Almost Always
by Ellie-Ohhh
Summary: He stared into her killing jar, her gaze never faultered from his pallid face. A shiver ran down his spine, those eyes, those pale eyes, they would be the death of him. Joker/OC.
1. All downhill from here

A/N: So, heres the deal. The first couple of chapters will start out being before TDK, or rather the events leading up to Jack becoming the Joker.

Disclaimer: I own no one. I own Alessa, and all the other people that seem foreign to you.

--

It was late August when the small family of three moved into the shabby house down the road. They lived in a little town just outside of Gotham, Suburbia at it's finest. The mother was a shy, quiet women with downcast eyes and her smile non-existent. The husband was a tall, well built man, with an angry disposition and a sneer on his once handsome face. They were James and Joyce Napier, and they had a little son named Jack.

Jack Napier had to be one of the cutest little boys she'd ever seen. His hair was a bright blond, like his mother's, and his eyes were a perplexing shade of aqua. He was a tad too skinny for her taste and looked a little smaller than a normal six year old should. But if it was one thing Jayne learned early on about Jack Napier, it was that he was not normal. Jack, although small, was unusually bright for his age. He had an intelligence that would surpass the adults that she called colleagues. She knew that he would be something great, he was destined for it, she could see it in his eyes. And it was when her own six year old daughter, Alessa, brought him home a week later that she truly knew. This boy would be powerful, and he would bring her daughter with him every step of the way.

Jayne Way had everything.

A loving husband, a loving family, a nice house, a good job. She was a strong women, she had pride in herself and her 'children'. She could handle anything it seemed. But one thing she could never handle well was death. So the death of her beloved Michael had left her lost, stranded. For a whole year she cried it seemed. And all Jack and Alessa could do was hold her hand while she cried.

Jack had went with the Way Family to the funeral, his parents didn't go. In the two years Jack knew him, Michael Way had been more of a father to him than his own shitty father ever had. And so he stood in between of Jayne and Alessa, holding their hands as they cried, as he cried. They watched the casket drop into the moist soil, none of them caring that it was raining and they were drenched to the bone. It was that moment Jack knew, Life was unpredictable and Life wasn't fair. But Jack truly found out how true that was one year later when Michael's best friend Richard popped into the picture.

Richard Galleger was a big man. He was loud, obnoxious, rich and smart. He was a police Lieutenant and was well respected amongst the people of Gotham. He was feared by many, and although no one else but Jack knew, that also included little Alessa.

--

She was running.

Running so fast her chest burned. She ran through the tall grass, the wind making her dark hair whip around her. She could hear her name being called, but she couldn't stop running. Finally the young girl collapsed onto the dirt ground in a fit of sobs. The person running after her finally caught up, out of breath. His dirty blond hair in his eyes, his hands on his knees attempting to get some circulation in his lungs and decrease the burning sensation that lie there.

"Alessa..."

She had stopped sobbing by now, her chest hurt and there was a lump stuck in her throat. Her vision was blurry and her dark hair stuck to tear stained cheeks.

"G-Go away J-Jack." She hiccuped.

Jack sighed.

"Alessa listen, listen to me." He sat down beside her and brushed her hair out of her face. "I know it seems bad, but it's gonna be okay."

She stood up and stared down at the boy she'd grown to love. "But that's just it Jack. It's NOT going to be okay! She's marrying him Jack! Marrying him! He's going to be my step-father! How could anything good come of that?"

In all honesty, Jack knew nothing good would come of it. Even at the tender age of ten, they both knew. This man was a mean man who yelled almost as much as he ate. In a lot of ways he reminded Jack of his own father, and Jack **hated** his father.

He looked up at the girl in front of him. Her hair was a dark brown, the prettiest shade he was sure. Her eyes were a pale green and her skin an alabaster. Alessa Elizabeth Way was almost always seen with a smile on her pale face. And it pained him to see her this upset, she was usually the one laughing and stroking his hair telling him it was going to be alright. There were only a few times that he had to do it for her, and his chest hurt every time. She was so strong, and he cared for her too much, but she was all he had.

Alessa was almost as intelligent and quick witted as himself. So by lying to her he would be insulting her intelligence. She had never lied to him, so he would never lie to her.

He looked down at his dirty trainers then back into her killing jar, her gaze never faultered from his pallid face.

"Your right. Nothing good will come of it. But there's nothing you can do 'Less. Your father had cancer, and I know you miss him...I miss him. But your mom is lonely, she moved on, she loves Richard now...as disgusting as that is, and I'm sorry. But I know she still loves you, and hey, you still have me." He smiled a real smile at her.

Alessa still looked a little teary eyed, but she smiled a little nonetheless at his toothy grin. She plopped down on the dirt in between his legs, her side against his chest, her head in the crook of his neck. They were still young enough for it to be innocent, and even if anyone was around, no one would've questioned it. Most would just shake there heads, and say "Its just little Jack and Alessa...there bound to get married anyway."

Jack leaned back, so he was laying down, Alessa in the same position on top of him.

"Jack?"

His hands were behind his head and he was staring up at the clouds, the sun shinning down on his pallid face, teasing him. His eyes were closed as he 'Hmmm' as a response.

"Why do you think you mom married your dad?"

He was still staring at the clouds, his brow was furrowed in thought. She was about to ask him again when his mouth opened but closed, then opened again.

"I dunno...I would say because maybe he was a nice guy once...but I feel like I would be lying." She felt his chest rumble a little as she chuckled.

"Why is your dad so mean?" Alessa glanced up at him from her position on his chest. But he wouldn't look her in the eyes, he just kept staring at the clouds ahead of him. She felt him sigh and shift slightly, getting more comfortable.

"I dunno 'Lessa. He's always been like that. I think...I think part of it is cause he likes to drink. But when he drinks he gets angry over stupid things."

She could see the internal struggle he was waging within himself, she could see it in his eyes. Its been said that the eyes are the window to the soul. It was true in this case, she could read him like a book, she knew when he was hurting because it was all in those aqua eyes if anyone had cared to look.

"Well..." she started. "you still have me."

He smirked at her use of his own line against him. "Yeah, I still have you."

They layed there like that, with the warmth of the sweet sun lulling them to sleep on that perfect summer afternoon.

--

'Of course it would be raining.' Jack thought bitterly.

He was standing by a pair of double oak doors, staring out the high window, watching as the rain patted against it. His hand was firmly placed in Alessa's and he could see her, out of his peripheral vision, playing with the hem of her bleach white gown. The flowers in her dark hair were lilies, making her hair seem darker with the contrasting white.

His own curly locks, as usual, rebelled against the hair dressers wishes and remained in the tousled dirty blond mess. His free hand went up to the collar of his tuxedo, attempting to make himself more comfortable.

"Stop fiddling with it, your gonna mess it up."

The sound of her soft voice startled him, but only for a moment. He could tell she was unhappy, hell anyone could tell. But, he had to give it to her, she played the 'I really am happy for my mother' look well. If it were acting, he was sure she'd win an Oscar. He muttered a 'Sorry', and it was when the bride had finally arrived. A crazed looking women in a scarlet dress, holding a bouquet of lilies, ran past them in a blur of scarlet and gold through the double doors. She came out a moment later, looking slightly calmer, only slightly, with a fake smile plastered on her bronze face.

"Ready?" She screeched at the pair. The women ushered Alessa out first, handing her a basket of flower petals as she signalled the organist to start. With confidence, they both knew she didn't have, Alessa walked down the aisle, that Oscar winning display once again present on her face, throwing flower petals at the feet of people she didn't know or didn't like. The rush of Brides maids followed after in that annoying blur of scarlet and gold.

"Hey baby-boy, you ready?"

Jack looked up at the sound of his nickname. The owner smiled down at him, her pearly whites matched her dress. The flowers she held matched the ones Alessa had thrown on the ground. He could tell she was nervous, but he could also tell she was excited. He knew Jayne loved Richard, she gave him the same look she would give Michael. Jayne was like a second mother to him, all he wanted was for her to be happy, he loved her.

"Shouldn't _I_ be asking_ you_ that?"

She smirked down at him, and ruffled his already tousled hair with her free hand. She looked down apon him with only love and adoration.

"Thank you for doing this for me Jack. You don't know how much it means to me." He could tell she was going to cry, not wanting to ruin her perfect makeup or perfect day he smiled at her and nodded his head.

"Jack?" She kneeled down in front of him taking both of his hands into hers. "Jack, will you do me the biggest honor? Will you give me away Jack?"

His aqua eyes widened in shock. Jayne wanted _him _to give her away? He couldn't do anything but nod dumbly. She smiled a teary smile and took his hand into hers as the double doors opened and everyone turned to stare at the bride. Everyone that is except Alessa, who started at Richard the whole time. He had an air of confidence around him, and there was a cockiness that lie there. But Alessa could see the slight look of awe in his brown orbs, and that gave her a little twinge of hope. She watched as the pair reached their destination, and Jack kissed her mothers hand before walking over to her and placing his slightly shaky hand in her calm one. Maybe it wouldn't be as she had thought...

* * *

A/N:

Short? I know. I apologise.

Next chapter the pair faces the worst enemy of all... Teenage Angst + two abusive Fathers and annoying kids in school.

Hahaha...ohh dear.


	2. Northern Downpour

Reviews make the world go round.

--

_"Boy!" _

_The man shrieked from the living room. The boy in question turned to face the dark haired girl sitting on his bed. Her pale eyes held knowing, and her pretty face contorted into a sneer. He looked down at his dirty trainers as they heard a loud 'thud' above them. The boy opened the door, about to walk up the stairs when he turned and faced the girl._

_"Whatever you hear...don't come upstairs."_

_The boy sullenly walked up the basement stairs that lead to the kitchen. The twelve year old boy made his way into the living room where his father was sitting on the couch waiting for him. His mother was huddled under the kitchen table, shaking, and most likely bleeding. That's where she usually ended up after one of there particularly bad fights. The boy stopped in the entrance to the living room, in plain sight of his father but not close enough for him to hit._

_"Yes sir?"_

_The man took a swig from the Jack Daniels bottle he held in his left hand. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve before calmly answering his son. _

_"It's about time you got up here. What were you doing, jacking off?"_

_The boy's cheekbones flushed a light pink at his fathers crude remark. The man stared at the boy with a piercing gaze, his light eyes boring into his sons. His voice was still deathly clam when he spoke next. The boy knew that meant trouble, he was used to his fathers yelling and screaming. At least that was normal. The boy just stared down at his dirty trainers, avoiding his fathers piercing gaze._

_"Well boy, do you plan on answering me any time soon?" _

_Still the boy wouldn't answer, he kept his mouth firmly closed in a stoic grimace. The man stood up from the couch and slowly walked over to the boy. He stopped in front of him and stared down at the boys pallid face. He slapped the boy and grabbed his chin forcing aqua eyes to meet blue._

_Before the man could do anything further they both heard shuffling and the man looked over the boys shoulder. His calm facade dropped and returned into his usual sneer. He threw the boy to the ground and began walking over to where the woman stood, she quickly turned to grab the kitchen knife off the counter by the sink. The man grabbed her wrist as she went to strike him with the knife, he pushed her back against the wall as he took the knife out of her hand. It went flying across the kitchen tile, and he went to pick it up. He chuckled as he picked it up and slowly walked toward the blond woman. Her eyes were closed as tremors ran through her small frame. Soon the laughter became boisterous and loud, cackling. He turned to the boy, who was still huddled on the floor, watching, waiting._

_"Why so serious?"_

_The boy didn't answer the rhetorical question, he just stared at the man before him, watching as the knife came dauntingly close to the woman. The man dropped the woman and stalked over to the boy. The woman fell to the floor in a fit of sobs, crawling out of the house on her hands and knees._

_"Why so serious?"_

_He gripped the boy by the collar of his old t-shirt and pulled him up into a standing position. He stuck the blade into the boys mouth, holding him still by his shirt as tremors shooke his thin body. The man smiled, his yellowing teeth bared, his breath smelled of alcohol. _

_"Lets put a smile on that face of yours."_

_The boy squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the pain of the knife cutting through the soft flesh of his cheek. His screams filled the house as he tried to drop to the floor. The man let him fall, holding his chest down with his knee as he put the knife to the other corner of the boys lips, ruby red from the blood that poured on them._

_"Your pathetic, you know that."_

_The boy just cried harder, as the searing pain in his cheek was becoming too much for him to handle, and the weight on his chest was making it hard to breathe._

_"Your nothing. If I was to end your little existence right now, no one would give a damn, no one would miss you."_

_His voice was serious, and his eyes were angry, but his face held a mocking, a grin that was there only to torment him._

_"Your always so down. Well now you'll see the funny side of things, now you'll always be smiling. So when I beat you, I know your enjoying it."_

_His voice was giddy as he spoke, and his eyes held no anger or tears; his mouth held a mocking grin that stayed permanent as he slit the other side of the boys face upward, giving him a gasglow grin that would stay forever._

_Everything was spinning around him, the face of his father was blurred the lights were flickering, he kept seeing in black and white. He felt a rush of relief as the weight on his chest disappeared. He heard yelling, a girls voice, but it was being muffled as if a pair of earmuffs were placed over his ears. Everything was going black, he knew he was fading away. How he wished he could've done somethings differently, said more to those he trusted. The last thing he saw before he slipped into the unconscious was flailing dark hair being thrown to the ground by the man with the knife, his father._

_--_

He awoke with a start, his breathing labored, the sweat pouring off him, the sheets tangled around his thin hips. Jack ran a hand through his long curly hair and sighed as he untangled himself from the bed sheets. He turned and looked at the clock on his bed side table, **4:47**.

Jack got up and walked up into the bathroom that connected to his room. The mirror was cracked and the sink looked grimy but he didn't care as he turned on the light and took off his boxers. He turned the shower on and the water on hot. Steam filled the room as he sat on the shower floor thinking over the nightmare that had been reoccurring since he was twelve.

_'If only it were just a dream_...'

His hand drifted up towards his face, his long fingers traced the scars that formed a permanent Chelsea grin. He wasn't sure of all the events that took place after he was knocked unconscious, Alessa filled him in once he awoke in the hospital days later. _Alessa... _thoughts of her filled his head as he got up off the shower floor and cleaned his body. His eyes were closed as his hands shifted south, and came into contact with something hard. Thoughts of her laugh, her smile, her thin lips and pale eyes filled his mind. His eyes snapped open, was he seriously just thinking about is best friend like that?

'_Well no duh dipshit, you've only wanted her since you hit puberty...' _He mentally berated himself. He knew that was true, but he couldn't help but feel bad about thinking of her that way. The way everyone else saw her, the way he wished she saw him.

He shut the shower off and grabbed a towel off the rack. He wasn't like other boys, he didn't play sports, he didn't like school, he'd never had a girlfriend. So why did Alessa still hang around him? He was a freak, everyone thought so...so why not her? He had this debate with himself almost every day, and every day she proved him wrong.

He put his clothes on for school, and grabbed his book bag. Putting his shoes on he looked back at the alarm clock, it read **5:34**. Jack walked up the stairs of his basment bedroom and into the kitchen where he went out the back door. He walked through the neighbors yards, lighting a cigarette as he walked. He finally reached his destination and put the cigarette out and cautiously opened the backdoor that, like his own home, lead into the kitchen.

"Hey, your here early." He looked up to see a brown haired woman in her bathrobe smiling at him.

"Hi, Jayne."

The thin woman walked over from her place by the fridge and embraced him in a motherly hug. After the incedent his mother ran away, ran away from all her problems. So Jayne took it upon herself to be his mother, and so far she had done a pretty damn good job.

"Alessa's still upstairs sleeping, I was just about to start breakfast, why dont you go on up and lay down in her room 'till breakfast is done?"

Jack licked his lips subconsciously. "Are you sure you don't need my help?"

Jayne smiled at him and shook her head, curls bouncing as she did so. Jack put his school stuff down in its usual corner and headed up the stairs to Alessa's room. Even as he ascended the stairs he could hear Richard's snores from the basement bedroom. How Jayne could sleep through that he would never know.

Jack walked down the carpeted hallway and stopped at the last door on the left. The door itself was brown, but one would never know with all the pictures taped to it. One picture in particular caught his attention, it was a picture of them together in the tall grass. She was sitting in between his legs, her back lay against his chest. They had went swimming in the lake by the grass and they were still in there bathing suits. He lightly brushed the picture with his fingers before softly opening the door. Alessa didn't even stir as the soft click of the door shutting could be heard.

Jack walked over to where she slept, her bed against the corner opposite the bathroom door, and licked his lips subconsiuously agian. Her dark hair was spread out messily on the white pillow. The blankets lay in a bundle around her waist the tanktop she wore rode up and her pale flesh could be seen. Oh how he wished he could see the rest of her pale...woah, what was he thinking?

'_Your doing it again._'

Jack sighed as he bent down to take off his shoes and took off his over shirt. He peeled off his t-shirt and lifted the white comforter to lay down. '_Of course she would only wear her underwear to bed..._' Jack sucked on the inside of his scars as he lay down beside her. She stirred slightly as he got comfortable, her eyes opened briefly and took him in before closing them once again. Jack sucked in a breath as she shifted and turned on her side pressing her back against his chest and wrapping his arm around her chest. His eyes drifted closed and his jaw tightened when he felt her hips wiggle against his attempting to get more comfortable. But in reality the only thing it was doing was increasing the bulge in his ripped jeans.

"Hmmm...Jack..." She mumbled and he did all he could from kissing her.

It wasn't like they hadn't kissed before, no on the contrary they were each others first kiss. They had shared many firsts together, first friends, first sleepover, first bike ride, but there was once first he was dying for and it didn't seem to be happening anytime soon. He drifted into an easy sleep, thinking about things that only he would think about.

--

Jayne slowly man her way up the stairs and down the hall to her only daughter's room. She rapped her knuckles lightly on the door before opening it slightly to poke her head through. When she saw that both of her children were asleep she fully emerged from the hallway into the room. The carpet was red, the walls were an aqua blue that matched Jack's eyes, there was a shelf to the left of her and the bathroom to the right, a desk was straight ahead, and the closet door was ajar.

She turned to look at the bed against the wall, it held the two most important people in her life. She watched as they clung together desperately in their sleep, and it reminded her of Michael. The way Jack looked at her Alessa...it sent shivers up her spine. Jack loved her daughter, and she knew, even if he hadn't figured it out yet. This poor boy had been through so much in his short lifetime. It pained her heart to know what everyone said about him, what they saw. But Alessa didn't care, she didn't see his scars, all she saw was her intelligent best friend who cared more about her than himself.

Jayne walked over to the bed and gentely shook her daughter awake, her pale eyes blinked for a few moments before opening fully. "Honey, come on wake up. Its time for breakfast."

Alessa nodded and Jayne left the room, leaving the two teens by themselves. Alessa looked into the sleeping face of her best friend, she was facing him and his arms were wrapped protectively around her slender form.

His beautiful eyes were closed, and his tousled blonde hair fell into his sleeping face. He was pallid, from the lack of sun, and small light freckles adorned the bridge of his nose. His jaw was strong and some how made him look more older, defined. She lightly traced the jagged lines with her pointer finger, the scars on his cheeks were soft to the touch. She didn't mind them, she didn't see them when she looked at him.

She saw just saw her Jack.

Her mind stopped whirling with thoughts of him, the small smile slid off her face. 'Her Jack'? Where had that come from?

She sighed and slid a hand down his bare arm, over the muscle that lie there. He kept himself hidden from the world, he let those jocks beat him up without putting up too much of a struggle, because one day he would destroy them, they would all run in fear at the sound of his name. He would have his revenge, and she would be there to watch the world burn.

She ran her hand back up his long arm, feeling the warm skin. She ran her hand through his long hair lovingly. She loved him, she always had. But she layed there wondering when she had started loving him like _this_.

She breathed in deep, if only he knew.

"Jack."

No response.

"Jack." she whispered in his ear.

She felt him shift lightly, but he didn't wake. So she resorted to the antic that he had used so many times before on her.

"_Come Josephine in my flying machine. And up she goes, up she goes..._"

She sang softly into his ear when his eyes slowly fluttered open, sleep still evident in the aqua orbs. He cleared his throat, his voice was still thick with sleep when he spoke.

"What?" he yawned. "What time is it?"

His voice was deep and husky. It sent shivers up her spine, and she wished that he would say her name over and over in that voice.

"Good Morning to you too. It's somewhere around seven, mom just came in for breakfast."

He nodded his head, not really comprehending anything other than the word 'breakfast'. He lifted himself from the soft bed, and the warmth of her embrace. He almost walked out the door when Alessa called out to him.

"Jack."

He turned and looked at her holding up his shirt. He smiled sheepishly and walked back over to her.

"Forgetting something?"

Jack grabbed the shirt out of her grasp and slipped it on over his head. He watched her untangle herself from the fluffy white comforter. She stood, not caring at all about her state of undress in front of him, and walked over to the closet to retrieve something to wear. Her thin tank top was white and matched her white underwear. They were tight and hugged low on her hips. She looked so...pure. He absolutely adored it.

She pulled some jeans on as he took a seat on her desk chair, waiting for her, not that he minded in the least bit. She turned so her back was to him and peeled off her white tank top, tosing it on the floor beside her. He felt his breathe hitch in his chest. He was staring at the pale flesh of her bare back...and it was slowly killing him he was sure. She clipped the bra behind her back and turned around to face him, oblivious to the stirring in his pelvic area.

"Do you think it'll be hot today?"

The shrug of his shoulders was his only response as he tried not to stare openly at her heaving chest. But as soon as he noticed the purply-blue of a bruise forming on her side all those feelings were pushed into the back of his mind and rage bubbled up inside him. She turned away from him to look in her closet for a shirt.

"Alessa..."

She looked a him over her shoulder, waiting for him to ask him question, but when she saw _that_ look in his eyes she turned around fully.

"How did you get that bruise?" His voice was icy as he pointed to her side.

Her hand came up in an attempt to cover it, but it was no use he had already saw it because she had stupidly forgot about it. She stayed silent, her pale gaze never meeting his.

"Jack...just...just forget about it okay." It wasn't a question, it was a demand. But the way she said it, the way her voice cracked, didn't do much to threaten him. If anything, it only made him want to kill that bastard more.

She turned around once again, but before she could he caught her wrist. He stood up and faced her, her wrist still clutched tightly in his hand. She was fairly tall for a sixteen year old girl, but he still towered over her. She looked up at him, her face was contorted in anger, her chest was heaving with heavy breaths, but her eyes held a sadness as she tried her hardest not to cry.

"No. I'm not just going to forget about it. I'm not going to let him do this to you anymore." He gestured to the bruise on her side, up close he could see it, it was in the shape of a belt. He felt his stomach drop to the floor.

"Well its not up to you is it." She ripped her arm out of his grasp and stalked over to her closet and pulled out a plain white vee-neck t-shirt and thrust it over her body. She pulled out a dark green vest and put that over her shirt.

"Alessa." His voice came out more of a growl than anything. His aqua eyes were darker, full of rage. She knew she should start calming him down, but she just couldnt stop herself.

"Look Jack, you know him. You know how he works. Ever since hes started...hitting...me again hes left her alone. Shes my mother Jack, shes been through so much already. Its the least I could do for her."

Jack started at her. He stared at her long and hard. "This is ridiculous."

Alessa just shook her head and walked out of her bedroom and stomped down the stairs. He was quick to follow her, grabbing his shoes and his over shirt from the floor. Alessa walked into the kitchen, she grabbed a few pieces of toast and bacon before walking past her mother and out the back door.

Jayne just stared confusingly as Jack walked by her, buttoning up his over shirt, positivly seething. She simply decided not to question it, they would work it out, they always did.

--

They had ignored each other the whole walk to school. And the whole homeroom, and the whole first period, and the whole next three periods. They had almost every class together, so Alessa was finding it harder to ignore him. No matter how hard she tried.

Finally the bell a had rung, it was fifth period, it was math, God how she hated math. But it was over, and she was grateful. Her pale eyes followed him as she walked from a couple seats behind her and out the door. It was becoming increasingly hard not to talk to him, Jack was her best friend and she had never really held out this long before.

She sighed standing up and grabbing her notebook, she had lunch next. She shoved it into her bag as she walked out the door. She didn't make it far down the hallway before she heard a slam. The slam of a body hitting a locker. She knew in her gut that it couldn't be good. There was a crowd forming in front of her locker, the locker she shared with Jack. She pushed her way through the crowd of teenagers and saw the scene play before her.

Tommi Smash, the school's most popular jock. He was a senior and the captain of the Wrestling team and the Lacrosse team. And there he stood with his hands around Jacks neck, shoving him into the lockers, yelling about something that she didn't quite understand. Tommi let his grip on Jack loosen up slightly, only to punch Jack in the face.

Alessa let out a gasp. She wanted to run over and help him, but her feet stood rooted to the ground. Whether it was from the shock of it all, or the look in Jacks eyes she wasn't sure.

Tommi let go of Jack, expecting him to fall to the floor like his normal victims did. But Jack stayed where he was, holding his jaw slightly and eyeing Tommi with a look that screamed murder. Jack pushed himself from the wall, his eyes never breaking contact with Tommi's brown ones. A small smirk played upon his lips as he walked toward the older boy, it sent shivers up her spine.

Jack was _dangerous_ and for some strange reason it made her feel hot all over. She never had more of an urge to jump him as she did standing there.

Jack walked up to the older boy and grabbed his shoulder, they were about the same height but Tommi could've easily over powered him at anytime, but it was the smirk on his scarred face, the confidence in his walk, the chaos that seeped from him, that made Tommi stand paralyzed in front of this boy.

Jack took a quick sideways glance at the crowd surrounding them and noticed Alessa for the first time. Her pale face looked flushed, her lips were slightly parted, goosebumps erupted over her flesh when his eyes meet hers. Her pale gaze looked transfixed on his, staring into his very soul. He was almost afraid that she could read his mind, because she if she could she would've slapped him for the thoughts he was thinking about doing to her. He returned his gaze back to Tommi's and swung his fist as hard as he could into the older boys face. Tommi backed away slightly, holding his nose to stop the bleeding.

The whole crowd was thrust into silence, mouths agap. Jack Naiper, the school's resident freak, had just broken Tommi Smash's nose in a single punch. Jack knew that he probably wouldn't be able to walk for a week once Tommi was done with him, but the look in his eyes right before he punched him had been _so _worth it. And the look he got from Alessa made everything ten times better as well.

Tommi wasted no time lunging back at Jack, toppling with him onto the cold floor. He straddled Jacks waist, with his arms tucked under Tommi's legs. Punch after punch was thrown in Jacks face before he felt the weight that was Tommi lift off of him. Jack looked up to see Alessa hauling Tommi off him, he rolled over onto his side and began to cough.

"Get the hell off him." She was seething, more than seething.

Tommi stood up still clutching his running nose, and glared down at her. "Alessa are you on crack or something?"

His tone was angry but it softened slightly when he talked to her. It was no secret how much Tommi Smash wanted Alessa Way. But even in Middle school she hadn't given him the time of day. She was always too busy with Jack to really even notice Tommi. Sure he was good looking she supposed, but his cockiness overweighed his looks. Many believed that one of the reasons Tommi bullied Jack so much was because of his obvious love and devotion to the girl. And that little fact that she seemed perfectly content spending all her time with the freak Jack Naiper, instead of Tommi Smash.

She rolled her pale eyes. "No Tommi, I'm not on crack."

"So did you not just see that..._freak_ attack me?"

Alessa's stare was hard, but when she spoke her voice was light, mocking. "Tommi?" It was a simple question, one that didnt need an answer.

"Where have you been for the past elevin years?" Her voice was still sugary sweet as she spoke. She stared at him expectantly.

He eyed her carefully, unsure of how to answer. "Why?"

She dropped her sweet facade and walked toward him slowly. "Because that_ freak_ happens to be my best friend. And you wanna know something Tommi? I would pick him before I would ever consider picking you. He's more of a man then you'll ever be."

Tommi stared down at her, anger, sadness, confusion, could be seen in his brown eyes.

"How could you even think something like that about him?" he shrieked. "He's nothing. He's a poor orphaned nothing, with scars that only represent a broken home! He's intelligent, I'll give him that, but he's never going to amount to anything, he's never going to do anything great in life.

Seriously Alessa, he's a creep! Don't you see the way he looks at you? The way he watches you? Its disgusting! You can just tell hes waiting for the right time before he takes what he wants from you and leaves! Then he'll come running back to you, and because your the wonderful person you are, you'll accept him. And you know what will happen? You'll end up just. like. his. parents."

He was screaming and he hadn't even realized it.

"Come on Alessa, well all know that if you stick around with him you'll just end up some whore!"

That's when he felt it, the pain in his left eye, it was unbearable. Alessa, the 5'8, 120 pound _girl_, just hit like a man and gave him a black eye to add to his already broken nose.

Alessa was shaking, literally shaking from rage.

It was then that the principal finally strut down the hallway with a few teachers bringing up the rear. They broke up the crowd and sent everyone back to class. Alessa looked down at Jack who was still lying on the floor with his eyes closed. The whole right side of his face was starting to bruise. His breathing was steady, he had slipped into unconsciousness, she wasn't sure when, but she knew he wouldn't be able to open his right eye for a day or so.

Two of the teachers helped Tommi down to the Nurse's office, and another helped her bring Jack. Mr.Wilkes, the Principal questioning her the whole walk down. She told him what she saw, and what she heard. He had told her that it wasnt her fault, but that she must receive one out of school suspension for punching Tommi, school policy. But she wasn't in trouble, and for that she was glad.

They were almost at the Nurse's Office when she glanced out the window. It was pouring rain. She smirked a little. "_How fitting."_ She thought to herself at the irony of it all. And then right as they reached the office she started to hum the song that was stuck in her head.

"_Tripping eyes, and flooded lungs...  
Northern downpour sends its love"  
_


	3. When the Day met the Night

**A/N: **Bahh it feels like years since I've updated. Once again I apologise, I'm lazy. That's all it really is.

And school. You could blame that too if you really wanted.

Now remember, reviews make the world go round. And I would like roughly more or less six reviews before I update again.

I'm being selfish.

Oh and btw before I forget. This story** is**rated 'M' for a reason. I don't want any annoying fanfic downers reading this and being appalled. I'll leave a warning if it makes you all feel any better.

**WARNING: **slight smut. and more to come.

enjoy.

* * *

Jack awoke to the throbbing of the right side of his face. His left eye opened and glanced around the room. From what he could see he wasn't in school anymore. He was laying on a soft bed, and the sheets smelled like flowers after it rained. Jack tentatively brought a hand up to his face and brushed it softly with his finger tips. He winced in pain. Tommi had really out done himself this time.

He heard muffled singing and the sound of running water. His good side was facing the edge of the bed, so he turned on his left side to see the bathroom door slightly ajar and light flooding from it. He was in Alessa's room. In Alessa's bed. And Alessa herself was in the shower. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand next to him. **8:48** God where had he been for the past six hours?

He sat up slowly, his skull protested, but he needed to stretch. He swung his long legs over the side of her bed and rested his elbows on his knees, and his head in his hands. The room was semi dark, and for that he was thankful. He heard the water stop, but the singing continued.

"_He was just hanging around  
Then he fell in love  
And he didn't know how  
But he couldn't get out  
Just hanging around  
Then he fell in love_"

She continued to hum as she walked into the semi dark room. Jack wasn't sure if she saw him sitting up or the look of longing that past through is pale eye as he watched her towled form walk about the room.

He stared at those same amazing legs that he had seen before when she was wearing her little pajama bottoms. The phrase 'legs that just won't quit' popped into his head and he now understood how paradoxical phrases like that could work.

The lyrics to the song played over and over in his mind. It made him almost want to laugh, it was ridiculous how the lyrics to that whole song reflected on his relationship with her.

He gave a small sigh to make his presence known, she turned around and he heard a small 'gasp'. She quickly walked over to where he sit and crouched down infront of him. Out of his good eye he could see her soft expression as her hand found his. It was cold and wet, just like the rest of her...

"_Jack..._" he internally scolded himself.

He looked into her killing jar, he'd sometimes stare for hours...her gaze never faltered from his own. An unwanted shiver ran down his spine, she would certianly be the death of him. Her cold hand reached up to gently stroke his face. He flinched away in pain, and she ran her hand threw his tousled hair.

"How are you feeling?"

He shrugged his broad shoulders lightly. "Like I got run over by a truck." His voice was husky, hoarse from lack of use, and goosebumps erupted over her damp skin.

"You should put some ice on it."

Her voice was low and her fingers still ran threw his hair, making his shoulders sag a little more. Her thin lips pressed to his good cheek, slightly above the curve of his lips. A tingly sensation and unexpected warmth spread through him as she stood up and walked over to her closet.

He heard rustling and a few moments later she came out of the closet shrugging on a tank top over her underwear, her cold nipples poking against the material, and a pair of his sleep pants.The woman was trying to kill him. The pants were too big for her thin waist, so they were rolled up multiple times, falling loosely below her perturbing hipbones. Her long hair was curled from the water and her pale eyes glanced over his form.

He groaned mentally.

"I'm gonna run down stairs and get you some ice. Do you need anything else?"

Her hand was already on the doorknob when she turned and waited for his response.

"No." Was the only thing he croaked out. She nodded and walked out the door, shutting it behind her.

--

She padded into the kitchen slowly, quietly. The light was on and her mother stood in front of the sink washing the dishes while she sang softly.

"Hey." Alessa said softly. Jayne looked over her shoulder at her daughter and produced a small smile.

"How is he?"

Her voice was soft and comforting. Alessa shrugged, walking over to the freezer.

"As good as he could be I guess." She grabbed a wash cloth and started putting ice in the center of it. "He just woke up. He's bruised up pretty bad."

The concern in her voice was evident, and when Alessa turned around facing her mother, Jayne knew she would take good care of him.

Jayne nodded. "So...are you ever going to tell me what happened today?"

Alessa's gaze never faltered from her mother's. "I told you what happened." She wasn't entirely sure when her daughter had become this good at lying, maybe she always had been, or maybe she acquiredit from the many years with Jack. Either way, she wasn't sure.

"I mean what was really said Alessa. I know what you told me, but I want the truth."

Alessa dropped her mother's gaze for a moment, shifting her feet from side to side. The ice in her hand was starting to melt, numbing her fingers. She sighed and brought her pale eyes back to her mother's.

"I'm not really sure what they were fighting about before I got there, Jacks been unconscious so I couldn't ask him, but I'm going to. I uh, walked into the crowd and Tommi had his hands around Jack's neck screaming at -"

"Wait," Jayne interupted. "Tommi, as in Tommi Smash?"

"Yeah, Tommi Smash. Anyway he punched Jack in the face, and I'm sure Tommi expected Jack to like crumple to the ground. But he didn't, he just pushed himself off the wall and walked over to Tommi."

Jayne could hear the awe in her voice when she retold the story of how her best friend ended up beating up the older boy. It made a small smile appear on her rose colored lips.

"But then Tommi jumped him and threw him on the ground and just started wailing on him until I pulled him off Jack. Then he started yelling at me how Jack was a freak and how could I not see 'The way Jack looks at me'. Whatever that means."

Alessa shook her head, a sign that she didn't comprehend what Tommi had been talking about. Jayne just bit her lip to keep from smiling. Jack looked at her daughter in many ways. But she had been noticing the particular way he had been looking at her daughter these past few years. Jayne didn't mind, she supposed she should on some level, but she didn't. Jack was a good boy, she knew that. She also knew just how much he loved her daughter, and he would never force her into anything she didn't want to do. Besides, most of the things they did were by Alessa's command, she was the leader of their pack, most of the time.

"Then he goes on about how Jack would like rape me and 'being the nice person I am' I would take him back and we would end up just like his parents. Or a whore. Thats when I, uh...that's when I punched him."

Alessa looked sheepishly at the ground, like her mother hadn't already known that part. Jayne was shocked and appalled, but not at the fact that her daughter had punched a older boy in the face, she knew that and God knows he deserved it. But she was shocked at what that boy had said to her daughter and about her and Jack no less.

Jayne just sighed as she shut off the running water. "Well," she started. "would it be too un-mom-ish to say that I'm proud of you?"

Alessa just stared at her mother. Whatever she had expected her mother to say, that was certainly not it. A small smile broke out on her thin lips as she walked over to her mother.

Jayne stared down at her only daughter. Words couldn't describe how much she loved her. Alessa was her everything, and she was so proud to have a daughter like her. Jayne smiled fully when she wrapped her arms around Alessa. They both sighed into the embrace, both completely comfortable like only a mother and daughter could be.

It was Jayne who pulled away first. "Well, I suppose you should go play doctor now huh?"

Alessa looked down at the floor and smiled. "Yeah, I guess I should." She replied as she walked back over to the freezer and refilled the cloth with ice. She threw one last smile over her shoulder at her mother before heading back up the stairs to her room.

--

Alessa opened the door slowly, the light in her bathroom was still on, giving the room some light. Jack was still sitting in the same position as he was when she left him there. The door clicked softly behind her and Jack's head slowly rose up.

"Hey."

He gave her a small smile. "Hey." His voice was still husky, and it made her breathing slightly more laboured as she dropped down on her knees in front of him. She took his face in her hand and lightly pressed the ice-filled cloth on his bruised cheekbone. He winced away from it, but after a moment or so he stilled.

"We should probably get you out of those clothes."

His eye snapped up to meet her gaze. He wasn't quite sure he had heard her correctly. He could only nod dumbly as she stood up and pulled him with her.

She lifted his arms, and slowly raised the shirt over his head. He sucked in a breath when the material came in contact with his bruised face, but let it out when his t-shirt dropped to the floor beside them. Her pale eyes stayed locked with his as she undid the belt of his pants, and popped the button of his loose jeans. The denimn fell to the floor with a thud, and soon he was left in only his pair of plaid boxers.

She took her time, letting her eyes devour him. He was tall, that she knew, but it wasn't just his long legs. His collarbone protruded against the hollow of his throat. His shoulders were broad without being bulky, his arms were long and the curve of his muscle could be seen. His forearms were oddly attractive and connected to thin wrists and long fingers. The pallid flesh of his torso was slightly defined with muscles and his hipbones made a deep 'V' that ended somewhere below the rim of his boxers. He was darkly beautiful in a dangerous sort of way.

She silently handed him the cold cloth and turned to shut off the bathroom light. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dark as she walked back over to the bed. She collided into something solid, and grabbed on to it to keep from falling. She found it was warm and soft and Jack? He was still standing in the same position she had left him in.

"Well aren't you going to lay down?"

Her voice came out a tad harsher than she intended to, so she leaned up to kiss his cheek only to come in contact with...oh god...definitely not his cheek. She was frozen in place, her thin lips pressed against his. She felt him stiffen and suck in a breath through his nose, and she was sure if she could see him, his aqua eyes would be widened in shock and surprise. She hadn't intended for it to happen, but now that she was here she couldn't help but live in the moment.

Alessa pushed up on her tip-toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, adding more pressure on there lips. She slowly felt him relax and melt into the unintended kiss. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her body closer to his. It wasn't long before he was kissing her back with just as much vigor, if not more, as he traced her bottom lip with his tongue, begging for entry. She complied, opening her lips and was battling his tongue for dominance.

He was in heaven, he was sure. The way her mouth moved against his, the way her lithe body felt pressed up against his, it was enough to make him explode. He felt his back come into contact with the mattress, but the real surprise was when Alessa straddled his waist and kissing him ferociously once again. His hands ran up and down her sides, inevitably pushing the thin material of her tank top up. The softness of her warm skin didn't surprise him, it just made him yearn to feel the rest of it. His hands ended up on her hips and he rubbed small circles on her expose hipbones with his thumbs. She let out a small moan when he bit her bottom lip. As revenge she ground her hips into his, and his movements stilled, his hands on her hips tightened to the point of bruising, and a low growl came out of his mouth.

Alessa sat up, pushing herself up from his chest, and stared down at him. His breathing was laboured and her chest was heaving. His hands on her hips kept her firmly in place atop of his pelvic area.

"Jack...are you...I mean...do you really..." she stuttered, pausing to think for a moment. "I mean all we did was kiss...am I really that good?"

He wasn't quite sure what she was referring to, but he doubted he was likely to figure it out on his own while she was swaying back and forth atop of him, like she was doing.

"Alessa," He cleared his throat, his voice was hoarse and deep. "what are you talking about?"

"Well, I mean, this."

She ground her hips into his once again. She could feel the hardness there and he let out another growl and bucked his hips from under her. She bit her lip to keep from moaning out loud.

Her voice came out airy and breathless. "That." She looked down at him. "What is that."

He wasn't quiet sure how to respond exactly. "Well, its, um...uhh...Alessa don't make me say it..."

Alessa chuckled lightly. "No, I know _what_it is. I mean, why do you have one? All we did was kiss. And the last time I checked most boys dont get boners from kissing."

Jack was quiet. He was in shock, and embarrassment. But somewhere, deep inside him, the part of his brain that was actually functioning was telling him to be angry. What did she know about guys? How did she know the things she knew? He had known her all his life it seemed, and she had told him everything. He knew she had dated a few guys, but she swore nothing happened. Yet, it nothing happened then how would she know this vital piece of information?

But most of his brain was clouded with lust and desire. It was too busy focusing on the fact that her hips were roughly connected with his own, and that not too long ago her mouth had been on his. Slowly, but surely, it had clicked in his hazy mind that the straining in his boxers was borderline problematic at the moment, and she had called him out on it.

His eyes widened. Oh God. The fog was clearing up, he could think relatively clear now. He, Jack Andrew Napier, had just been ferociously making out with his best friend, and it wasn't a dream. Alessa was still on top of him, grinding her hips slowly into his, awaiting his answer.

"Uh, yes. I-I do, in fact, have a...yes." He managed to mumble out. He could hear her laugh lightly. Why was she laughing at him? She knew he hated to be mocked, to be made a fool of, a _joke. _That's the way everyone else looked at him, but not her, never her.

Alessa felt him stiffen at her giggle. She knew she had unintentionally hurt his feelings. She ran her hands through his long curls.

"Jack, I'm not laughing at you." She bent down and kissed his lips softly, slowly. "Actually, I think its kinda hot." Her voice was low, seductive against his lips.

Alessa felt him relax, then stiffen, but for a different reason this time. Her lips traveled from his lips to the corner of his mouth. She slowly kissed the length of his scars. Then she kissed the good side of his face, to his ear. Her lips touched the hallow of his throat, and she lightly grazed her teeth against the soft skin there. She felt him jerk involuntarily, and he bucked his hips against hers before letting about a soft growl.

She sat up agianst his chest again. They were both panting, and working up a lightly sweat.

"Maybe we should cool it until your not bruised up. Sound alright tiger?"

Did it sound alright?

It sounded like a bloody awful plan. Here he was almost naked, aroused to the point of pain, with Alessa panting and moaning atop of him. And she was asking if it was okay to stop? Was she stupid? She cant just rile a boy up like that. He was a overly hormonal seventeen year old boy. The sight of her in her underwear gave him a hard on, and now his wet dreams were finally almost coming true, and she wanted to stop? His mouth moved without his permission, but then again, it usually did when it was around her. She had a contol over him that no one had, that no one would ever have. If she asked him, he would do likely almost anything for her. It was strange, and he didn't like it. Yet, at the same time, he did absolutely nothing to stop it.

"Of course."

She pecked his lips lightly before unwillingly rising off him, she stood and swayed slightly. God, what was he doing to her. The way he made her feel...her body felt cold without his burning touch. She felt an aching for him that she had never felt before, for anyone.

"So... " She sat down on the bed next to him. He had sat up, but hadn't really moved from his spot. "how do you go about fixing...that?"

Was she trying to kill him slowly?

He turned his head to face her. Even in the dark he could see her form, slightly haunched, her long legs crossed, her head resting in her hand, while her arm rested on her knee.

He sighed. "I have to used the bathroom." he was about to rise when he felt a hand on his thigh, stopping him.

"Wait." It was such a simple word, said in such a simple way, but it commanded so much attention, so much power. "Can I?"

Jack thought he was going to have a heart attack.

Those two, beautiful words. He was about to scream 'yes', but his logical side told him to wait a moment and think this through. His best friend, his only friend, the girl he'd been in love with since he was six, wanted get him off like only the dream Alessa would. He was attempting to come up with some decent arguments on why to say no, but once again his mouth began to move without his permission.

"Yes."

He felt her move, from beside him, on the bed to the floor. She rested in between his knees, her hands on his thighs.

She stopped for a moment, pulling his boxers down so that I could actually see what she was doing. Alessa slid the material down his legs slowly until they fell to the floor with a thud. She wasn't really all that good at playing a temptress, but he didn't seem to mind that much. She lay the side of her head on his thigh and watch him harden more under her gaze. She reached out a hand to tentatively take him in her grasp. She felt him flinch in her hand.

She smiled.

It was a sick kind of amusement to know that she was the cause of the hardness she was holding. She ran my fingertips lightly up and down the shaft, barely grazing the skin. Jack's abdomen was clenching, and she could hear his barely audible moans escaping from between his gritted teeth.

She hadn't satisfied her curiosity of the male sex organ completely, but she had decided that she had tortured him enough for the moment. Alessaleaned forward and she heard a gasp collect in his throat as she let a hesitant lick flicker over the head of his erection. He expelled the breath he was holding, releasing a groan with it. It didn't taste as bad as she thought it might…she let another lick cross over the head before she kissed the tip.

His hips arched up to meet her lips. She took the base in her hand and slowly lowered her mouth over the head and down his shaft. It was wider than she had expected and stretched her lips. He groaned again letting his hands fall down to twist in her hair as he arched his back and thrust his hips slightly, nearly choking her. She pulled her mouth back up and let him fall out with a 'pop'.

She looked up at his face; his eyes were closed from pleasure.

"I don't know if I'm doing this right… you'll have to tell me what you want, okay?" He nodded and opened his eyes to watch as she slid her lips back down his length, groaning again.

"That's great," he sighed like he was out of breath and played with the damp curls of her hair tickling his stomach. She pulled back up, and ran her tongue around the head a couple of times before delving back down. She could almost reach all the way to the base now, if she relaxed my throat. He grunted and rose up, putting his hands on her cheeks and lifting her mouth away from his throbbing arousal.

His voice was rough, husky. "Yo-you should stop now."

He was almost afraid to gaze into her pale eyes. That was probably the single most amazing moment of his short life, but before he could come he remembered excatly who he was sharing it with. Alessa was the only person he had ever really thought about doing any of this kind of stuff with, but all teenage hormonal-angst aside, she was still his best friend, his family. He couldn't bear it if they stopped being close over something like this. he realised, a little too late he supposed, that what they were doing with each other was either a make-it or brake-it thing on their part. He knew that after this their relationship would probably never be the same, and he hope that it would be for the better. Like the way he had wished he could have a relationship with her.

He looked into her big pale eyes. She was staring up at him from her position on the floor. She leaned back, sitting on her heals/

"Do you want me to stop?"

Her voice was cool, but it held a secret challenge. And somewhere deep inside him, he knew this was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for since he was thirteen, that make-it or break-it moment. And all it took for them to reach this moment was his facing getting smashed in and an accidental kiss on her part. He sighed. Sometimes life just didn't make sense. But as he felt her long finger creep up his thigh, he wasn't about to start complaining.

"No."

A slight smirk appeared on her thin lips. "That's what I thought."

She rose up on her knees and grabbed his arousal once again. She led it into her mouth, relaxing her throat, she took all of him. His hands found there way back into her hair and they tightened as she started moving faster. His hips bucked unintentionally once again, and she knew that he was close now. She slowed her moments to a tortuously slow pace, dragging her teeth up his length. He shivered, and her felt him buck his hips one last time before the salty bittersweet taste was left staining her mouth. A low growl escaped his lips.

His hands were still tangled in her damp curls, his eyes were closed, and he wore the most pleased expression she had ever seen him wear. His eye cracked open to watch her swallow the subsentce and start licking up the residue on his thigh. If that wasnt enough to get himself hard again...but he willed it down, and for once his body actually listened to him.

She stood up on her knees and stared at him with her big doe eyes. Her mouth found his and she kissed him lightly, but there was still a ferocity behind it.

When she pulled away he just stared into her eyes, silently asking the question they both had been yearning the answer for. Alessa stood up and he followed suit. It wasn't as awkward as he had expected it to be, it was just...silent.

He didnt mind though.

He picked up his boxers off the floor and put them on. Alessa walked past him and pulled back the covers. She slid in and grabbed his hand, dragging him into the bed with her. He settled in, and she snuggled up to him. He just couldn't shake that goofy smile off of his face. Her head rested against the hollow of this throat and his arm lay protectivly around her waist.

A thousand thoughts ran threw his head, but if asked he was sure he wouldn't be able to put any of them into a cohesive sentence.

"Alessa -" He was cut off by her lips claiming his.

"Shhh, Jack. Tomorrow. Right now," she yawned. "sleep."

It wasn't a request or a demand. More of a fact he supposed. Jack just smiled to himself as she buried herself deeper in his warm, and he soon felt into an easy sleep.

A/N: remember what I said about those reviews.


	4. Pretty Odd

A/N: So this story roughly takes place way before TDK and a little but after.

I have a question for you all, Would you rather see all the events leading up to TDK. OR would you rather me fast foward and just have a series of flashbacks showing what happened and why things are the way the are.

Its up to you. And I would really like to know what you all think. =]]

Haha I'm getting so ansy ans ahead of myself. 'Cause I have like so much planned for later on, its just writing it all out is a pain.

Well let me know what you think.

-Ellie

* * *

It was early, as far as she could tell anyway. Light streamed through the shades drawn on her windows. She was in that early morning not really awake but not totally asleep realm. Her bed was warm, the comforter was bunched around her shoulders, and her long tresses were slightly covering her face. Her back was facing the window and her front was facing the rest of the room. Alessa knew she didn't have to be up early today, but she was still on that school schedule.

She sighed, realizing that she was finally awake, and looked around. The side of the bed next to her was still warm, but there wasn't a body present. She sat up slightly, yawning. The blankets fell into a jumble around her waist and she realized that she wasn't wearing her pants anymore. That didn't faze her, she usually kicked them off during the night if she got hot. What struck her was a whirlwind of thoughts, all about last night and what had occurred.

Her pale eyes widened. Oh God. What had she done?

She had never been really good at the art of seduction. Or maybe she was and just never knew. It wasn't like she had all of this experience or anything. She had other friends sure, boys that liked her yeah, but never had she really even tried to tempt a boy, let alone what she did to poor Jack last night. Her sultriness surprised herself a great deal, she could only imagine what had been running through Jack's mind...

She thought that over and blushed lightly. Never mind, she really **didn't** want to know.

She thought over the events that had taken place in her room the night before. She thought she would've felt used, dirty, but in fact she didn't. She didn't feel any of those feelings. She felt shocked of course, and a tad embarrassed for being so crazily forward, but she felt happy. She didn't regret it. She just hoped he didn't either.

--

Jack sat at the kitchen table, a steaming cup of coffee was in his hands. His gaze was straight ahead of him; but his aqua eyes were glazed over and his look was a million miles away.

He had gotten up much earlier than he had expected, than he wanted, but he couldn't help it. The sun had just started to rise when his eye opened. The body that was tucked under his protective embrace was warm, soft, small.

It was Alessa. His Alessa. His best friend. His girlfri--

No.

His best friend, his only friend. Alessa was only his, truly his, in his dreams.

But wait, memories of the night before had started flowing through is mind. Jack knew that memory would be one of his personal favorites forever. But it wasn't a dream, it had actually happened. She had chosen him, she had picked him. Jack had never even kissed a girl that wasn't Alessa. He had never really wanted too. One look at her and anyone could see why.

Long legs, thin waist, heaving chest, thin lips, bright smile, dark tresses, pale eyes. It wasn't his fault his best friend happened to be devastatingly beautiful. But one of the many things he adored about her was her modesty and obviation to it. He knew she really had no idea exactly just how gorgeous she truly was. It was almost sickening to look at her for too long. She was like his drug, she helped him breathe and he kept her entertained.

Jack sighed.

He placed the cup of coffee on the table and let his head drop down onto it. He groaned. What was he going to do? He was getting mixed signals from her. One minute their best friends, the next she's mad at him. Then she's defending him and the next minute she was blowing him!

He was crude and he didn't care. She was testing him, something he didn't usually allow to happen. That whole Alessa and his rules thing popped into his mind, her being the exception to them.

He didn't have plans, plans just blew up in peoples faces. Plans were something to expect, he liked to surprise people. If something didn't go "according to plan" it messes everything up, then one would have to start all over again. He didn't like that very much. But as he sat with his head on the table he considered someway of talking to Alessa about the night before. He was planning, he hated it, but it was what needed to be done. He knew with her he would need to know before hand what to say or do. He couldn't mess this up. This was his one chance at having her, all of her. He couldn't ruin it. If one day of planning is what it took for them to finally be together, then he would happily forget his own beliefs for a while.

--

Alessa bounded down the stairs, it was still early, seven or eight-ish.

She walked into the kitchen expecting to find her mother, but instead found a dirty blond haired boy sitting at her kitchen table drinking coffee. His back was conveniently facing her and she silently thanked god for this short time to think.

Alessa watched the fine muscles of his back as he haunched over in the chair. A warm sensation spread through her body at the thought of him. She had seen him without a shirt on many times, but for some reason after last night...everything about him just seemed more...sexy.

She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she continued walking into the kitchen. She walked over to the sink, grabbing a cup out of the drainer. Turning to face him for the first time, she went over to the fridge and pulled out the orange juice. She could feel his gaze on her, penetrating. She looked up from poring her drink to meet his eyes. Oh, those eyes. He was staring at her with a mixed look, it was confusion, lust, embarrassment, love, and lastly, determination.

She was lost in his gaze, in his eyes. They way his light eyes held hers, to the way they roamed over her figure with such a longing, burning in them. She never even realized what happend until he shot up from the table and was by her side faster than she could recall. Alessa shook her head and looked down at the counter, that was now, covered in orange juice. She had been so caught up in her staring contest with Jack that she had totally forgot everything she was doing. Unfortunately that included pouring her drink.

Yeah, real smooth.

"Shit."

She grumbled as she reached over to grab a dishcloth. Her hand met Jack's as they reached for it at the same time. They both jumped back at the sudden warmth from that simple contact ignited. Their eyes met once again. Alessa chewed on her bottom lip as Jack sucked on the inside of his scar. Nervous habits they had acquired over the years. The down part of knowing everything about your best friend/potential lover is that one can always tell when the other is nervous or upset or angry. And right now both Alessa and Jack knew just how nervous and uncomfortable they both were at that moment.

Alessa was the first to break the gaze. She picked up the dishcloth and started to wipe up the spilt orange juice. Jack's hand lightly grabbed her wrist, stopping her from cleaning and forcing her to look at him. He grabbed her chin with his other hand and lifted it up to look at him. Her eyes were still downcast and she was still gnawing on her bottom lip.

"Alessa..." She didn't look up. "Why are you so nervous?"

Her eyes finally met his and she sighed.

"Its just...its just that this is turning out to be much more...awkward that I intended." He looked down at her, into her pale eyes.

"Alessa, its only awkward because your making it that way. I'm fine. Now I know you don't want to talk about last night in your kitchen so go get some pants on and meet me outside."

"Where are we going?"

He smiled at her. "To the spot. I figure so much has gone down there, so many firsts and startling conversations that it might be the most appropriate place for this one."

She nodded, seeing his reasoning, and walked out of his warm embrace up the stairs to her room.

--

It was cool outside, the weather was cool in a post-Winter sort of way. The snow melted in Gotham leaving it with the crisp air of Winter and the rainfall of spring. That awkward in between was Alessa's favorite time of the year. She loved the cold air, being hot made her sick.

They made their way into the clearing of tall grass. A beat up recliner sat under the big tree, and few old rugs lay on the grass. Along with them was a broken down coffe table and a few other knicknacks that they had acquired from over the years. This place, "the dome" as they sometimes fondly called it, was theirs. It felt safe, like home, or how home used to feel anyway.

Jack sat sideways in the old recliner with his feet dangling off the armrest and his back against the other. Alessa stood facing him, her arms at her sides, looking at him.

"So..." Jack started.

"So."

"Alessa."

She picked her head up and stared at the clear sky. "What."

"I'm not upset with you if that's what you think. Actually, its quite the opposite really."

She looked back at him, into his crystal eyes. "Really?" He looked down to his lap, avoiding her longing eyes.

"Yeah, really. I mean, I dunno why you want me...you could have any boy in Gotham. But if you want me, you can have me." His eyes travelled up from his lap, over her figure to her eyes. The look in his stare was so fierce and demanding that it overwhelmed her. She almost wanted to look away but she couldn't. "All of me."

They stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity before Alessa finally spoke.

"Do you..." she paused, breaking the contact and looking down. "want me?"

Jack stood up off of the recliner and made his way in front of her. He brushed her dark bangs out of her face. "God yes."

Her eyes drifted up to his only to close a second later as his lips descended upon hers. The kiss was more gentle than the last one they had shared, but not without the same intensity behind it. His hands roughly grabbed at her hips, grinding them against his own. Her hands wound in his curly tresses, pulling his face closer to hers. When they broke apart for air Alessa's eyes were still closed.

"Jack," she panted. "what if...but what if we break up? Then what will we do? I'm not about to loose you forever just because you cant seem to keep it in your pan -"

"Alessa!" She looked up at him, her mouth slightly agape. "Can you for once just shut the fuck up and kiss me."

"Okay"

--

Alessa awoke to an incessant beeping noise in the air. She sighed. She was so warm and so content, she didn't want to get up from the cocoon she had made for herself. But the beeping was driving her borderline suicidal. She opened her eyes and took hin her surroundings. It was dark, for there were no windows to let in light. She reached over the body next to hers and switched off the alarm clock that sat on the night stand. She let out a tired yawn and ran a hand through her dark tresses.

"Jack."

When he didn't budge Alessa rolled her eyes. "Jaaaaaackk." He released a groan and turned on back, pulling a pillow out from under his head and placing it over his eyes.

"Jack. Get up."

Alessa stood up and stepped off the bed and turned on the lamp next to the alarm clock. Jack grumbled something incoherent, muffled by the pillow.

"I'm giving you five minutes or I'm leaving without you. You got me?"

Jack raised an arm in the air to signify that he had indeed 'got her'. Alessa rolled her eyes before wandering into the bathroom. She stripped down and turned on the water before getting in. The hot water washed away the sleep from her system and she felt more awake. Through the glass of the shower door she saw Jack shuffle in with his eyes half closed, shirtless, and his hair sticking up in various places. He stopped in front of the sink and started to brush his teeth as she got out of the shower.

"Are you going to take one?"

All Jack did was nod, he wasnt particularly coherent this morning. It probably had something to do with the intense make out session they had until the wee hours of the morning. Not something smart to do the day your suppose to be returning back to school. Jack's face was...better, for lack of better word. The bruise on the right side of his face had faded into a sickly yellow-purple color, but his eye was still purple. For the most part though his face had healed considerably fast, and besides that first day after the fight, he said the bruise didn't bother him at all.

It had been seven days since the fight and even though Alessa had only gotten one day of suspension, she had stayed home with Jack. He hadn't gotten off so easily, he and Tommi both received a week of suspension for the fight. Now they were returning to school on a Tuesday, and they were sure to be the talk of the week. Especially since they were an item now.

God, she just couldn't wait to hear what people had to say about it. She knew Tommi was bound to blow a gasket, it would be hilarious, she couldn't wait.

It felt so right, her and Jack. It felt natural, like they had always done this, and they always would do it. Even though they hadnt gone farther than that night a couple days ago, she felt hot all over whenever he touched her. She was yearning for him to do...something to her. She hated waiting, but she knew that when Jack was ready he would make his move, and it would be **amazing**. It felt like they were married. At the thought a light blush flooded over her cheek bones. It really did, even more so since they had his whole house to themselves.

The night before Jayne and Richard had gotten into a massive screaming match about something that had escalated into something bigger. In the mists of the argument Jayne had sent them both to Jack's house for the night. Alessa didn't want to leave her mother there, alone with that maniac, but she had no other choice as Jack drug her out of there. So now here she was in Jack's basement bedroom, getting dressed for school, and waiting for him to wake up enough to have a decent conversation.

As she was pulling on her jeans Jack stumbled into the room, rubbing his eyes. He looked six years old again in that instant and she found herself smiling.

"Mornin'."

"Good Morning." She smiled. "Did'ya sleep well?"

He looked up at her as he was putting on his jeans. "Well as good as I could with you pouncing on me." He smiled at her.

Alessa gave a look of mock shock and indigence. "Me pouncing on you?" He nodded. "You were the one who couldn't keep their hands to themselves Mister." She poked him in the chest for further emphasis. Although she wasn't all that threatening with a smile trying to break out on her face.

"Hey," He put his hands around her waist. "Thats Mister Jay to you."

She laughed and slapped his hands away. Faking a brooklyn accent, "Whatever "Mista Jay". Finnish getting dressed ya big lug." She rolled her eyes and walked over to the dresser that contained some of her things.

--

The walk to school didn't take as long as they would've liked. The air was crisp and the breeze made Alessa's hair whip around her face. Before they knew it they were at their lockers and the bell rang for class. Everyone in the hallway was whispering in hushed tones and glancing the couple's way none to conspicuously. Nothing about them seemed out of the ordinary to anyone, they stood next to the locker they shared, they talked and smiled about their own jokes and stories. But what made everyone stop in their tracks was when the bell rang for First period, Jack drew Alessa close with his hand cupping her cheek. They stared into each others eyes before closing them, and before Jack's mouth descended upon hers. It was a light kiss, more than a peck, but less than their usual kisses. The hallway was silent. Even Tommi Smash couldn't say anything as he stood there watching in horror as the girl he liked kissed the boy he hated.

As soon as the kiss started, it was over. Jack and Alessa separated and smiled before releasing one another. Before they went their separate ways Alessa pressed a quick peck to Jack's lips, then turned and sidled down the hallway. Jack shook his head before turning the opposite way and heading towards his own class.

Everyone stood speechless, staring that one another in silent shock. They all knew it was bound to happen, Jack and Alessa becoming a couple, they all just didn't think it would be so soon and right after the fight no less. Tommi turned and punched a locker before stalking off angrily. The rest just shrugged their shoulders and shook off the daze they were in by mulling to their classrooms; with the girls gossiping and the boys shaking there heads. Well a lot of strange things do tend to happen at West Gotham High.

--

ehh some what filler-esque. But some minor important details.


	5. Were so starving

Soooo I figure out soo much of this story, so don't fret. there is still MUCH more to come. this my friends is only the beginning of a horrid affair between you and I. I still haven't a clue how almost always is going to end... but itll all come in due time. suggestions? questions? concerns?

* * *

Jack stared at the chalkboard in the front of the classroom. He was suppose to be taking notes on Protrons and Electrons, but his mind was elsewhere. Namely Alessa, he just couldn't seem to get her out of his head. Not that he minded that much really, she had always been in his head. But now, now she had a real reason to be in there.

They had been dating a little over a month now, but it already felt like an eternity since she had said yes. Of course everyone had found out that morning, and of course they were the talk of the school for a long while. But eventually it died down, people found other things to talk about. Like when Samantha Greystein go into a cat fight with Vanessa Jenson in the middle of Fifth period and bashed her head into a locker by her hair.

The fact that Jack Napier and Alessa Way were an actual item now seemed to be becoming 'old news'. They were both fine with that, ecstatic really. Maybe now they would be left alone to date in peace. Before all the girls Alessa had been friends with or even known, would run up to her almost every second of the day, as long as she wasn't with Jack, and ask her everything from 'How did it happen?' to 'Is he a good kisser?'. And the ever popular 'When is it due?'. Because apparently the only logical way Alessa would ever go out with Jack, in their minds, was by force, namely a unplanned pregnancy. It was infuriating after a while, but they learned to deal.

Surprisingly Tommi had yet to do anything to sabotage them, or even speak to them. He seemed to steer clear of anything Alessa/Jack these days. Alessa seemed to think of this as a godsend, but Jack knew better. He just knew, felt it in his gut, Tommi was planning...something. Now what that something was, Jack had no idea, but he knew it wasn't anything pleasant.

"Jack?"

He shook his head and glanced up at the Chemistry teacher looking at him expectantly. He looked at the board then back at the teacher.

"Hydrogen?"

A small smile formed on her lips at her favorite student. "Yes, that is correct. Thank you Mr. Napier."

Jack looked back down at his notebook, his long curls shielding his face. He hated praise, even in its simplest form. It made people recognise him, look at him, snigger at him for being so smart. That was the reason he hated being so smart, it gave Tommi and his cronies yet another reason to beat on him. The "smart" kids hated having him in their classes, he threw off the curve. Kids that usually got A's started getting B's. It wasn't his fault he was intelligent, it wasn't like he showed it off and attempted to make everyone around him feel dumb. When he was younger he used to try and fit in, wish that they liked him, even before his scars kids never liked him. Now he didn't care, he walked through life quiet and alone. Well, not so alone anymore. Most people though of him as the shy, quiet, loner with an attitude problem and a broken home.

He wasnt shy, he just hated everyone.

He wasn't sure if he could be this way forever, quiet, keeping everything inside, bottling his aggression and anger at the world. But for now he was content. He just wasn't so sure about the not so distant future...

--

"Jack...Jack? Helloo?" Alessa waved her thin wrist infront of his distant eyes. He blinked, focusing back on the girl sitting across from him. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine, I'm just tired."

Alessa eyed him wearily, her eyebrows furrowing in questioning. "Are you sure? You seem a little...tense."

"Really Alessa, I'm fine." He let out a light chuckle. "Let up already, you sound like my mother."

She stared at his skin, the way the sun hit it just right making it tint a golden hue on his normally pallid complexion. The muscles under his skin tightened as he caught her staring at him. She watched the way his arm flexed, then unflexed in nervous habit. The way his jaw clenched and the perfect jaw bone that connected to his neck. She suddenly felt a little too hot for the chilly March air coming through the open cafeteria window.

She coughed. "Yeah well...you look a bit peaky. I just want to make sure your feeling alright. Make sure you actually eat something." She gave him the 'look'. The look Jayne gave him, peering over her reading glasses, down the bridge of her slender nose, Alessa's nose...

"You seem to be acquiring this habit of not eating that much anymore. What...are you worried about your figure?" Jack chuckled and looked down at the table. "Honestly! If anyone should be worried about their weight its me. I mean, look at me, I eat like a bloody cow." Jack looked back up at her, then her couple plates of school food, then back to her before he couldn't contain it anymore, he burst out laughing. So hard and loud, people started to stare.

"Yeah, that soo funny Jack. Laugh at the whale of a girlfriend youve landed yourself with. Yup, thats reeeaaallll good for the old self esteem." She shook her head, rolling her pale eyes, she looked over at the different tables of people staring at them. "Hi. Is there something I can help you with? If not, turn the fuck around. Thank you!"

At that Jack just laughed harder, putting his head on the table, atop of his arms, his back shaking with laughter. Alessa looked at him with a small smile playing on her lips, her brows furrowed as she bit into an apple. Jack finally managed to calm down enough to look at her without laughing and sat upright once again.

He took a deep breath, from the lack of oxygen for a good five minutes or so. "So, what are we doing tonight?"

"Why, what've you got in mind?"

"Well," He took a sip of his drink. "I kind of wanted to go see that new horror movie they have out."

The glint in his eyes as he thought about the movie was not lost on Alessa. She knew of his obsession with violence and mind games. She didn't really mind it herself, actually she rather enjoyed horror movies, but she knew, deep inside, that it was more than just a fascination for him. But she would never call him out on it. She wasn't afraid of Jack, she could never be afraid of him. She was just afraid of what he was capable of, what he could do if he really tired. He didn't even realize the power he held over people, the way he walked, the way he spoke so precisely, the gleam in his eyes and the way the never left your own. Jack was so very capable of hurting so many people, and he didn't even know it. That was what she was afraid of...the day he figured it out.

--

The air was crisp and the sky was a dark inky color. It was a starless night that night, not that the two teenagers walking alone noticed. They walked together, but at times the girl would twirl from under his protective embrace and dance down the deserted sidewalk. The boy would just shake his blond head and walk a little faster to catch up to her before taking one of her hands and twirling her himself. They were almost to their street when they started to speak.

"So, what did you think of the movie?"

Alessa sighed and tilted her head as she thought over her answer. "I...liked it, for the most part. I loved the part when The vampire dude went into the girls cabin and scalped them," She laughed. "that scene was seriously stellar, but I'm a little disturbed. I felt like I was watching the beginnings of a abusive relationship where the girl becomes dangerously co-dependant. Girls are actually swooning over this? The dude watches her sleep, basically wants to eat her alive, isn't that attractive...and shows borderline serial killer/stalker tendencies. Yes, thank you Hollywood for making what basically boils down to a creepy fanfic and exposes your vampire kink. I start to wonder about the sanity and general IQ of the average moviegoer. And that's from someone who knows she's got her own issues."

Jack just looked at her. "That much, huh?"

Alessa smiled. "Did you like it?"

"Actually for the most part, no." He intertwined their fingers. "I mean I enjoyed it, but it was most definitely not my favorite movie."

They reached her house to find it empty, no car in the driveway, lights out, empty. Alessa unlocked the backdoor, walking into the kitchen. Jack turned on the light as the walked over to the table to find the not her mother left.

"Where are they?"

"Richard had a cop dinner function thing to attend so Mom went with him. It says they wont be back until late-late." She put the paper back down on the table and went to close and lock the door before launching herself at Jack. He smirked a bit before deepening the kiss and picking Alessa up bridal style, walking up to her bedroom.

Jack layed her down on the bed, his body covering hers. Her mouth strayed away from his and down to the junction of his jaw, where the jawbone meets the neck. She heard his sharp intake of breath and smiled slightly. His hands wandered from the bed to her hips. He felt the hipbones protruding from above the waistband of her jeans. He pushed his hands up under her t-shirt, feeling her smooth, flat stomach. Now it was his turn to hear her gasp as his hands found the underside of her breasts. Her back arched into his hands, her waist vigoriously moving against his own. A low growl escaped from his throat as she wrapped her long legs around him. She could feel him against her, kissing her neck, growling. She wanted him, she wanted him bad.

"Jack...Jack." he stopped his attack on her neck and looked inot her eyes. "Get up." He looked at her confused but did as she asked. She stood up taking off her shirt and throwing it onto the floor along with her bra. She sidled over to Jack, he stared into her killing jar, her gaze never faultered from his pallid face. A shiver ran down his spine, those eyes, those pale eyes, they would be the death of him.

Alessa slowly pushed him down onto the bed, setting herself down atop his lap. "Alessa..." Jack's voice came out hoarse, his eyes shut. "If we start, I...I don't think I can stop." He held her waist in his hands, opening his eyes, waiting for her to speak.

"Then don't."

His eyes widened, "Really?" She nodded as he picked her up and switched their positions, laying her down on the bed. He kissed her senseless, his coarse stubble scraping and burning the delicate skin around her mouth while his tongue fought with hers for dominance. He released her lips and blazed a trail down her neck, sucking and biting, marking her as his. Continuing south, he licked and nipped at her breasts, pulling at her nipples with his teeth, reveling in her whimpers and moans. He stopped again at her navel, dipping his tongue into the little depression and swirling it over her firm stomach, this time causing her to giggle and push at his shoulders. Obviously a ticklish spot. That was good to know for future reference, but at the moment, Jack wasn't looking to make her laugh. He wanted to make her scream out his name.

At the waistband of her faded jeans, he paused for a second, reconciling in his mind what he was about to do. Once he glanced up at her face and saw the hunger and need etched into her beautiful features, he permanently dismissed any fear, hesitation and uncertainty that he might have still harbored about them. There was no way this could be wrong. He decided to just let his body's craving for her take over, and trusted that it would guide him in the right direction.

Alessa was getting a taste of her own medicine. Her impatience was showing as she lifted her behind off the couch so that he could finally finish undressing her. He gave her an evil smirk, clearly enjoying the revenge, but inside it was killing him too. Jack needed to see, touch and taste all of her. Hooking his fingers around her waistband, he pulled her pants down her long, shapely legs, panties and all.

As she laid fully exposed before him, she watched through hooded eyelids while he ran his hands up and down her legs and then lifted one up over his shoulder. Jack kissed and bit from her ankle to her calve and then slowly down to her thigh. As he progressed closer and closer to her center, he could feel her body tensing in anticipation. Her heel dug into his back almost to the point of pain when his hand pushed her other leg aside, opening herself to him at last.

Kissing the rest of the way down her thigh, he made himself comfortable while watching her squirm with impatience. Jack licked his lips, his mouth watering at the sight of her glistening folds. Another glance at her face and he was done torturing both of them. His lips quickly descended and captured her clit between his teeth, gently sucking it into his mouth and flicking his tongue over the sensitive nub.

"Fuck…" she yelled followed by a string of incoherent moans and gasps. His tongue ran the length of her folds, dipping inside her tight passage once…twice…and again. "Oh God…Oh God…" she breathed out, her heel digging deeper into his muscular back, her hand grabbing a handful of the long blond curls on his head. When Jack's lips and tongue moved back to her clit, he upped the ante by slipping a finger into her wetness, followed by another. "Ahhh….yes!" she mumbled, thrashing her head back and forth.

He fucked her with his fingers faster, in perfect time with his tongue lashing across her clit. Alessa bucked her hips into him and he found himself having to hold her down with his free hand. Her toes curled, digging her perfectly pedicured nails into his back. He knew she was close.

"God Jack, don't stop…." she urged, but he wouldn't have stopped in a million years. He was dying to be inside her, but he wanted to watch her get off like this first.

"I want to hear you." he demanded, only pulling his mouth from her for a moment before returning to his relentless assault on her clit. He could feel her walls tightening around his fingers, and he knew she was teetering on the edge.

"Jackkkk!" she panted, falling over the brink. Her orgasm washed over her in waves, each more powerful than the last.

As her walls clenched and spasmed again and again, he licked and nipped at her folds gently. While riding it out with her, he couldn't help but imagine what it will feel like to have her come with him inside her, and it was long past time for him to find out.

While waiting for her to come down and catch her breath, he continued to drop light kisses on her thighs, trying his best to be patient. Although he had already waited seventeen years to have sex, it was becoming torture to hang in there just a few minutes longer. Finally, her eyes opened and she reached down, running her fingers gently through his hair at first, but then turning aggressive a moment later when she grabbed a handful of curls and pulled him up to her, capturing his lips with her own.

He moaned into her mouth, fully conscious of his position between her thighs. It seemed Alessa was aware of it, too, when she broke away from his mouth, staring deeply into his eyes while at the same time drawing both of her legs up his sides to wrap around his waist.

This was it…the point of no return. If they gave themselves to each other in this way, nothing would ever be the same again. She didn't see any fear or uncertainty in his eyes, but she had to be sure. "Jack," She whispered, her lips only inches from his. "Are you…"

"Shhhh!" he hissed abruptly, cutting her off with another deep kiss. That was all the reassurance she needed.

They had been in this position a few of times, but somehow had always managed to stop himself from going any further. This time, however, stopping was the furthest thing from his mind, especially when he felt her reach down to grasp his hardness and lead him to her entrance. He bit his lip, fighting for control over both his body and his emotions. The moment the head of his cock met with her warm wetness, he was lost to her forever. Instinct took over as he slowly pushed himself inside her, burying himself to the hilt. There was no way to describe the sensation of her tight walls surrounding him, and he had to take a moment to revel in the feeling and regain some semblance of control.

Alessa sighed as he filled her, stretched her, completing her to perfection. For no longer than a split second, she couldn't help but notice the sharp contrast between the fiery, passionate, intense Jack and the soft, gentle, delicate Jack. Her brief mental comparison ended there, though, when gazing up at him, she became hopelessly mesmerized by the look of concentration on his beautiful face. It was as if he was holding himself back by a thread, but Alessa was getting impatient and needed him to let go and move. A single buck of her hips against his snapped him loose, and still staring her in the eyes, he pulled almost all the way out and slowly pushed back into her.

The friction of his first stroke had him gasping, and Jack had to have more. Again, he pulled out and buried himself deeply within her, this time a little faster. Seeing her eyes squeeze shut and a her nails drag over his shoulders, he drove into her a third time, harder and faster yet again. It was only due to years of practice controlling his urges that he'd lasted even this long.

Establishing a steady rhythm, he plunged in and out of her, increasing his speed little by little, her hips working to meet his every stroke. "Faster…" she groaned, tightening her legs around his waist even more. He could only comply.

As his thrusts became deeper, more insistent and aggressive, he could already feel the tightening below that forewarned his release. It was too soon, so he pulled out of her, eliciting a groan from her soft lips. She opened her eyes and looked at him questioningly, but quickly got the idea when he got up and sat on the edge of the sofa, leaning back, pulling her along with him to straddle his hips. Alessa wasted no time in sinking herself down onto his hard shaft, clutching his shoulders and digging her nails into his skin.

Jack held her hips tightly as she rode him, matching her movements with counterthrusts of his own. Her pace was frantic, clearly loving the position of control and using it to her advantage to bring herself closer to her orgasm. She wimpered, moaned and called out breathlessly incoherent nonsense interspersed with his name. He knew she was close, recognizing the trembling of her body and the short, labored breaths she was fighting so hard for.

It wouldn't be long for him, either. If he hadn't already orgasmed once today, it would have already been over long ago, but by now, he could feel his control rapidly slipping away. She just needed a little push to reach her peak, so releasing one hand from her hip, he let it drift down to where they were joined.

Alessa was riding him wildly now, and didn't even notice his hand move to her center until she felt the first jolt of electricity shoot through her when his rough fingertips brushed her clit. "God, more…" she demanded, and it was his pleasure to follow her orders. He worked his hand in time with each thrust up into her, intuitively feeling how close she was.

As her climax gripped her in its clutches, words were lost to her. She leaned down, capturing his lips, biting, nipping and moaning, tongue delving into his mouth insistently while she allowed the waves to crash over her. "

Jack was still thrusting deeply into her, kissing her passionately as she came down from her high. Regaining her breath, Alessa pulled back and locked eyes with him, a her sights now intently set on a new mission to make him lose his mind. He returned her stare, picking up the pace, beyond ready to relinquish himself over to her. The sensation of her hot sex clenching and rippling around him as she came was even more amazing than he could have possibly imagined. His heart was pounding in his chest and beads of sweat trailed down his face and body. He kept a firm hold on her hips, guiding her in short, fast strokes. Eyes squeezed shut and head thrown back to rest on the sofa cushions, the tightening between his legs became stronger with every shallow breath .

"Jack…look at me…I want you to look at me when you come," Alessa pleaded as she wound her fingers through his hair and lifted his head. He opened his eyes to meet hers, paralyzed by the extent of the lust and hunger he found there. She had pushed him to the edge of ecstasy and he was about to jump. His thrusts became increasingly hard and erratic and she met each one with everything she had, determined to give him the pleasure he'd given her. "Let go, Jack…just let go."

He had never heard anything so erotic in his life and it proved to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he drove his cock powerfully up into her one last time. His body tensed, his teeth clenched and his eyes rolled back in his head as he sucked in his shallow breath. It seemed that time stopped around them as he froze his movements, holding her in place while buried to the hilt within her depths.

Only a split-second later, Jack's body began to convulse as he found his release, spilling deep inside her. He somehow found his voice again but couldn't yet form coherent thoughts, her name and a string of profanity the only recognizable words to fall from his full lips while he thrashed and gasped and moaned in the throes of the most intense orgasm of his life.

Alessa smoothed a lock of sweaty hair off his forehead as she studied him in the soft light while he rode out the aftershocks of his climax. She could tell he had finally returned to Earth when his eyes focused on hers and he smiled up at her. "Hi," he said simply, making her giggle.

"How are you doing?" she asked, the fear that he may suddenly have regrets hovered in the back of her mind.

"Hmmm…awesome," he replied, still not quite to the point of forming complete sentences.

"You?"

"Golden man," she answered sincerely with a smile, lifting herself off of his softening shaft. "Lay down."

Jack groaned at the loss of her body surrounding him but gladly complied and stretched his spent body out on the bed, glancing out the window and noticing for the first time that although the stars weren't out that night. Alessa reached for a blanket at the bottom of the bed.

The room went black as she sat next to Jack and draped the blanket over them before lowering herself down into his open arms. She rested her head on his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat and marveling at how peaceful she felt in his presence. He combed his fingers through her long tresses and she snuggled closer, her eyes getting heavy. His velvety voice piercing the silence was the last sound she heard before falling into a deep, content sleep.

"I love you."


	6. Cool Hand Jack

A/N: And here we are again. Sorry for the long update. I know, kill the author. cry about it.

anyyy whooo. this chapter is obviously dedicated to Heath Ledger for **winning best supporting actor **in oh my god, stop it, **The Dark Knight. **Get out of here.

* * *

Tommi Smash sat in his attic bedroom with two of his friends, Gregory Karbunkle and Josh Roee. The three of them had been a group since third grade where they ruled the playground. They were both on the Lacrosse team with him and would pretty much do just about anything he asked. Tommi layed sideways on his bed, throwing a ball in the air and catching it with his hands. Greg and Josh sat on his couch playing video games on his flat screen TV. He sighed thinking about the one thing that had been plaguing his mind since the eighth grade; Alessa Elizabeth Way.

He wasn't entirely sure why he liked her so much, or why her opinion of him mattered to him more than anyone elses. She was just some girl. It wasn't even like she was the lost gorgeous girl he'd ever seen before either. He scoffed. He had seen girls with bigger racks and more luscious lips than hers. So why was this one so...alluring?

Tommi grunted knowing that he had royally screwed it up with her. Of course he regretted what he had said to her as soon as the words left his lips. But it was like word vomit, it just kept flowing out until it was too late, he had already made a complete mess out of things. One of the things that pissed him off though was that he was right, he knew he was right in what he had said to her. If his darling Alessa stayed with that freak, she would end up alone. She would end up worthless and broken, like her own mother. He could give her everything, the world on a string, she could spin the stars on her fingernails if she wanted to.

Tommi bolted up, the ball lay forgotten beside him. His heart thudded in his chest, what was he saying? His brow furrowed in thought. Did he...did he just offer this girl a life with him? Giving her whatever she wanted and desired? Was he...oh god, was he in love with his girl?

His eyes widened in shock and realization. He was...he did...Oh God. He had to find a way to get her away from that freak and into his arms.

Tommi turned his head to the two boys who were now eyeing him carefully. "Hey Tom you alright man?" Tommi looked up from his gaze at the hardwood floor to Greg.

"Yeah," he cleared his throat. "yeah I'm good."

The two boys glanced at one another before looking back at their friend. "So ahh, Tom when are you and Way gonna work on that project?"

Tommi's head shot up at that. "What?"

Josh laughed a bit before looking at Tommi. "Oh man, don't tell me you forgot already!"

"Forgot what?"

Greg rolled his eyes. "The project assigned you and Alessa." Realization passed over Tommi's brown eyes as Greg shook his head. "You forgot didn't you."

"Yeah, yeah I did." He grabbed his cell phone from the bedside table and got up. "Thanks, you guys just really helped me with something."

As Tommi opened his door and walked down the stairs Greg and Josh looked at each other with strange expressions on their faces. They shrugged it off and returned to playing the game that was still on pause.

--

Jack sat at the kitchen table, haunched over his coffee. With his elbows on the table, his hands folded and his chin leaning on top of them. He was watching her as she bustled around the kitchen, getting things ready for the dinner that night. He couldn't help the desire that rose up in him as he watched her bend over, peeking into the oven. He had thought that once they had, had sex it would've quenched his need for it. Well, unfortunately for him, he was mistaken. It had been two days since they had spent the night together in his bed, two _long_ days.

It seemed though, that he was the only one thinking on such subjects, or so he thought. For some reason it was like he was overly sensitive to being turned on or something, in the past two days anything that would've remotely turned him on did, and badly. All the while Alessa seemed perfectly content in unwillingly teasing him every chance she got. She seemed cool and collected whenever she was around him. Which was more than Jack could say for himself, when she would walk into the room the temperature shot up eighty degrees, and that wasn't the only thing that shot up. When she smiled at him, or glanced up at him from under her thick lashes he felt his hips jerk and his voice crack. It was driving him bloody insane, she was diving him insane, all the while she pretended not to notice his strange pre-pubescent behavior.

Jack knew that if something didn't happen soon, he was going to hurt...something and it wouldn't be a pretty sight. He didn't want to be that whiny, sex-driven boyfriend, so he just wouldn't ask her. Call it manly pride or whatever, but there was no way he was going to her about it first, he was going to wait for her to come to him. He mentally put his foot down about the situation, he was the man in this relationship, he'd be damned if he was gonna complain to her about how bad he wanted it every time he got a hard on.

It was a good shot, a good plan, but it all flew out he proverbial window as soon as the water she was filling the pot up with splashed all over her tight white t-shirt. It was when she called out "Shit", that he looked up and saw just what happened. Alessa dropped the pot into the sink and turned off the faucet and grabbed a towel and attempted to get the excess water off of her. The material was taut over her round breasts, practically see-through. He didn't notice the growl from deep in her throat when he saw her nipples harden under his gaze. She was fully turned to him now, her breathing slightly deeper than before, heaving her chest a little.

There gazes locked. "Could you watch the chicken for me while I go change?" He didn't say a word as he got up and took long slow strides until he was standing in front of her.

"Ja -"

She was cut off by his mouth descending upon hers, fiercely and demanding. There was no question about who was in charge at that moment. Her hands found there was up to his neck, threading her long fingers into his curls. His rough hands made their way to her hips, rubbing harsh circles with his thumbs on her delicate skin. His hands were attempting to make there way into her jeans as a sound erupted from the table behind them. Alessa broke away from Jack and walked over to the table picking up her cell phone.

"Hello?" She glanced at Jack.

"Hey, Tommi." Jack's eyes turned a dark blue as they narrowed at Alessa.

"What does that bastard want Alessa." She put her hand up to silence him as she sat down in his abandoned chair.

"Yeah, sometime after school this week would be fine." Pause. "I know Tommi," Pause. "well why don't you attempt to think of a concept and I'll choose the book alright?" Pause. "Alright, well Tommi I have to go, I'm cooking dinner." Pause. "Yup, bye Tommi."

She hung up the phone and sighed, rubbing a hand over her face before looking up at Jack's furious face.

"Why are you meeting him after school Alessa?"

Alessa just sat there staring at him like she had never seen him before, his glazed sort of look past over her eyes. Jack contemplated the look she had given him, the way her face flushed, the goosebumps that erupted all over her still damp skin. Why would she react that way to his anger? It didn't make sense, none of this made sense, God his head hurt.

He turned to face her, resting his hands on his hips. '_Oh god, he was so incredibly hot right now.'_

"Are you going to answer me?!" She nodded her head. All she could think about was how fucking sexy he looked yelling and flustered. She sure as hell was hot and bothered. She needed him, **now.**

He started pacing back and forth, still with that damn pissed off look plastered on his face. "Seriously, Alessa!" She sighed and pulled the shirt over her head, not even listening to his rant anymore as she threw it to the ground. She couldn't do it anymore. She had to have him.

"What are you doing?" He mumbled, stopping in his spot in the middle of the floor as soon as his eyes landed on her, topless. Alessa bit her lip and fluttered her eyelashes in his direction.

"Well, I just thought…since you're angry and all…I thought, that instead of breaking something you might as well take your aggression out on me."

His eyes widened and he bit his lip. He stared at her in shock for a few minutes, unmoving. Finally, he gulped and pulled his shirt over his head as he walked closer to her and pulled her up from the chair and into his arms.

"You're lucky you're so sexy." Alessa rolled her eyes and jumped forward, pressing her lips against his so hard they almost toppled over. "And you're lucky I'm so horny."

His hands roamed her upper body, finally settling on the waist band of his jeans she was currently wearing. Lowering them to her knees, he stopped, letting her kick them off the rest of the way. He tangled his fingers into her long tresses, forcefully bringing her swollen lips up to meet his. He continued his assault on her thin lips and she let out a sigh. Alessa moaned into his mouth as his hands fell from her dark hair and connected with her bare chest. He cupped and squeezed, making her head loll back from the sensations he was creating.

'_This boy was too gifted with his hands.'_

His lips left hers, trailing down her neck, and settling on her chest. Alessa shuddered as he pulled one of her exposed nipples into his mouth, lightly running his tongue in circles around the tip. "Oh god, Jack." She mumbled, tangling her fingers in his curls. His mouth moved from one breast to the other, sucking and licking.

His rough, calloused hands moved down lower, lower still. She couldn't hold back the moan from the sudden contact. His fingers just felt too good. "Mm, 'Less. You're so wet." He muttered against her skin, trailing kisses along her chest and up to her neck. She finally found the strength to whisper, and he froze as soon as the words left her mouth,

"Fuck me, Jack."

He stood up straight, walking around her and leaving her, puzzled, in the middle of the kitchen. She watched him walk to the table, lifting it up enough to let everything on it fall to the floor. Alessa's jaw dropped as one of her mother's favorite vases shattered.

_'Dumb shit_.'

"Jack, what are you--?" He silenced her with his lips again, lifting her into his arms and plopping her down on the kitchen table.  
_  
'Ooh, I get it now!' _

Her eyes raked over his naked body as soon as he kicked his ripped jeans off and pushed her flat on her back. "I like this aggressive side of you, baby." She grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck as he braced himself above her.

"Yeah, well…I thought sex on the kitchen table would be fun."

Alessa sighed and pecked his lips quickly. "Oh believe me, babe. It will be." He grinned and dropped his voice a few octaves, making sure it was extra-husky sounding before speaking again. "Are you ready for me to rock your world?" A fit of giggles took her over and he rolled his eyes, trying to send her a glare. "I'm trying to be sexy here, 'Less…don't just shoot me down."

She grinned, tugging on his hands. "I'm sorry, baby. You're sexy, believe me. I mean, you're naked…so don't worry, you're sexy." He sighed and shook his head. She brushed her lips against his quickly and smiled. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she angled herself so he could gain better entrance. Alessa let out another satisfied moan as he pushed himself up into her and began pumping in and out at an incredibly fast pace. "Oh my god…"

She let her head fall back on the coffee table, arching her back and wrapping her long legs tighter around his body. He slammed into her, again and again. Sending her closer to that ecstasy they both needed to feel. She shut her eyes, wrapping her fingers in his hair and pulling his face back to hers in a hungry kiss. His hand roamed back down south again, causing her breath to hitch in her throat when he started rubbing her. "Oh, god…" She moaned out again, loving the way his fingers felt all over her and the way he felt inside her.

"Scream my name, Alessa." He whispered roughly in her ear, taking her earlobe in his mouth and nibbling gently. "Make me." She responded weakly, still moving her lithe body with his. His pace increased, and she arched her back even more as he pounded into her even harder, sending her closer to the edge.

'_I was definitely going to be screaming his name…' _

"Oh my god, Jack, harder." Somehow, he did just that, moving harder inside of her and moving his hand faster in circles against her sensitive skin. She was almost there. Taking in a deep breath, her walls clenched around him and Alessa ran her fingers down to his lower back, pulling him farther inside of her as she continued riding the wave. Oh yeah, she was definitely screaming his name now.

Jack's movements stopped and he took in deep breaths as he hovered above her, staring into her pale eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck, still not letting her legs fall from around him.

He was still inside her as she pulled his lips down to hers and kissed him hard. Her hands stuck out to meet his and his hands roamed again, resting on her heaving chest.

"You're so fucking..." He whispered, pulling away out and planting sweet kisses on my neck, not able to finnish as his hands continued exploring.

"Mm, so are you. That was amazing, baby. We've seriously got to practice some more so it can always be like that." He chuckled and nodded his head in agreement.

"I wouldn't be opposed to that."

Sighing, he slowly moved his body away from hers and stood in front of her. He reached down, pulling her into his arms again and planting his lips on hers briefly.

"Maybe we should go buy your mom a new vase tomorrow after school…" She sighed and nodded her head. "Yeah, I probably didn't go about clearing the table the right way."

She grinned, "You think?" He shrugged and took her hand. They dodged the broken glass from Jayne's vase as they headed down the stairs and headed toward her parent's bedroom. Aless's eyes widened and she shook my head. "Oh no, no, no, no."

He dropped her hand and cupped her face between his palms. "Come on, baby…we just had sex on the coffee table…we might as well have sex everywhere in the house, right? We've got four more hours to conquer the list, 'Lessa. The master bathtub is calling our names right now…"

She shook her head again and he dropped her face to trail his hands over her body. He slipped two fingers inside of her, slyly, and she let out a deep moan. "Oh my god, I hate you." Alessa whispered as she let her head fall against his shoulder.

"You love me. Now come on…bath time."

He removed his fingers and she sighed. She followed him reluctantly, down the stairs into the main bedroom and finally into the master bath. She leaned against the door way, watching as he sent her the cutest grin ever and proceeded to fill up her parent's bathtub. He climbed into the perfectly warm water, resting his back against the tub and motioning for her to sit on his lap.

She sauntered over to the bathtub slowly. She brushed her lips over his as she straddled him and slid down over his already hard length. He grinned and nibbled on her neck, before re-attempting to be sexy, "Are you ready for me to rock your world again, baby?"

Alessa bit her lip hard to contain the laughter and she spoke up again, "Actually, I think it's _my _turn to rock _your _world, baby." He tilted his head in thought and nodded.

"You know what, I think you're right…" She grinned and slowly moved up and down, doing exactly what she promised.

--

Jayne Way walked into her house and sighed, it had been a long day. She put her keys in the dish by the door, turned on the light and was taking off her jacket when the smell reached her nose. She sniffed in deeper and furrowed her eyebrows, walking farther into the kitchen. On the stove lay tinfoil wrapped plates of food and a note in her daughters scrawl that read:

_'Mama,_

_sorry about the food, I got a little...distracted. Its edible though, Jack ate it and didnt die so we should be in the clear._

_-less'_

Jayne rolled her gray eyes. _'Of course Jack ate it and didnt die. Hes a seventeen year old boy, he can eat anything and everything and still be hungry_.'

She lifted up tinfoil covering one of the plates and shook her head looking at the burnt chicken breast and soggy vegetables. What was she ever going to do with those kids. Distracted...she laughed, throwing out the charred food before loading the plates into the dishwasher. She wiped her hands on a dish towel as she made her way up the stairs to her daughters bedroom.

Jayne got to the door when she heard a deep voice mumbling then laughter. She pushed the door open a bit to peek inside, Jack and Alessa were sitting across from each other on the floor, hair damp and in pajamas, a board game set in between them.

"What?! That's not possible." Alessa demanded as she leaned across the board and took the card right out of his hand. "You have to be cheating. There soo no way you could keep getting all of this money."

Jack laughed at her and took the car out of her hand and smiled smugly at her. "You should know by now that I'm no cheat. I just happen to be gifted at board games."

Alessa rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Yeah, that's the only thing your gifted at."

Jack looked at her with mock appaul before his face set into a smug smirk. "Well that's not what you were muttering before."

Jayne's eyes widened a bit as Alessa's cheekbones tinted pink. "Shut up." Jack laughed again, his deep laugh. "I will when you pay up." She huffed as she handed him the correct amout of money stated on the card.

That's when she decided to make her presence known to the two teens, hoping she wouldn't hear anymore about what her daughter muttered and how gifted Jack truly was.

"Hey kids."

They both looked up to her standing in the doorway. "Hey Mom. When did you get home?" Jayne looked at the watch on her wrist, still holding the dish towel in one hand.

"Oh, I'd say about fifteen minutes ago. Nice job on the food by the way." Her face held a small smile.

"Yeah, about that mom -"

Jack cut her off. "It was my fault Jayne, I just wouldn't leave her alone." The glare Alessa shot him out of the corner of her eye was not lost on Jayne, she just didn't want to know about the meaning behind it.

"Don't worry about it kids. Cooking is an art form, it takes skill and love. I swear you all are helpless in the kitchen, just like your father." Jayne laughed before turning slightly and grabbing the door. "Well I'll leave you kids alone, remember early bed you have school in the morning."

"Yeah we know mom." Alessa waved her hand in the direction her mother, picking up the dice and rolling them.

"Good night."

" 'Nite." They both said together.

Jayne shut the door and made her way down the stairs, shaking her head, smiling.

--


	7. Maximum occupancy, Not to exceed

Regents make me want to kill small animals. Avoid them if you can. Heres the latest update. I lovee you all.

* * *

She checked the time on her cell phone for the fourth time, sighing when she realized he was he still hadn't shown up yet. She was sitting at a table in the Library, off to the side, far away enough that they wouldn't be disturbed but close enough that if something bad went down people would be able to notice. The sun was shinning through the wide, slightly open windows of the Library, the breeze rustling the pages of open books. She looked back down to the book she had out and the notebook next to it.

She was waiting for Tommi, they were suppose to work on their psychology project. Alessa swore their teacher, Ms. Kovax, was on some form of drugs. She was a tall women, but oddly thin, with glasses perched on the end of her nose and her wavy brown hair always falling every which way out of her messy bun. She had a knack for making the worst pairs and giving the most ridiculous assignments.

Alessa sighed as she looked down at her watch yet again. 'Stellar.' Tommi was officially twenty minutes late. She was just about to get up and go home when Tommi burst through the doors. Panting and out of breath, he looked around until he spotted her and slowly made his way over towards her. She sank back down in her chair, even lower than before, crossing her arms over chest.

"I'm soo sorry Alessa. I got held up at practice and," he took a breath, looking at her quirked eyebrow. "...you don't care."

He sat down on the chair across from her and set his stuff down next to him on the other remaining chair. "Well at least I'm here right?" He offered her a crooked smile but she declined it.

"Tommi I'm not rewarding you for being late to work on a project that is equally ours. If you didnt show I would've went and complained to Mrs. Kovax and demanded that she change our partners because you refused to do any of the work."

He looked alightly appauled, but covered it quickly. "Now why would you do something like that." His voice was charming as he placed his hand over hers. She retched her hand from under his.

"Now lets get somethings straight Tommi. I, don't like you. Your a pompous imbecile who trots around school like he owns the place. You use girls like you drink water bottles, you pick on anyone you want including my boyfriend and to top it all off the last time you beat Jack up you basically told me that I would wind up a crack whore."

He sighed, knowing that would come back to bite him in the ass. "Alessa you know I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that with his history you had a high chance of ending up like that with him. And you know I'm not really like that anymore, with the exception of Napier I haven't bullied anyone in a long time. I'm changing Alessa and you know it."

"I dont care Tommi, you still said it. I suppose that I tolerated you for all these years cause you didn't seem like that much of a nuisance, but now... Look if this project didn't count for like twenty percent of our grade then we wouldn't be sitting here, understand?"

Tommi's eyes made contact with the black surface of the table infront of him. "Crystal."

Alessa looked at him, his broad shoulders haunched, his large hands tangled together on the table in front of him. His brown eyes held a sorrow that she didn't quite understand and his dark blonde hair fell into his eyes.

"Listen Alessa, I'm not sorry for what I did to Naiper but I am sorry for hurting you. I think that if we really want to accomplish this project then we need to be at least on mutual talking basis, don't you agree?"

She looked into his eyes, he finally lifted them from the table, he just seemed so...mature, so not-Tommi-esque. She let out a breath, she knew she would regret this later. But he was right, maybe he really was different and she just hadn't cared to notice.

"Yes, I do. And your right, but this doesnt make us best friends." He nodded his head. "So, lets get to work then."

--

The smell of overbearing perfumes overwhelmed her senses, causing her to sneeze and give her a headache. God how she hated malls, especially Gotham's Grand Mall. It was always so packed with the millions of different people who sifted in Gotham's city, it was even worse considering that it was a Saturday morning. She still had time, his birthday wasn't that soon. But she felt like if she didn't find it now, she wouldn't find it at all. She looked over to the blond girl next to her, flittering through the overpriced frocks on the rack.

"Where not suppose to be looking for you, you know."

The blond rolled her dark eyes. "No Alessa, your not suppose to be looking for you. I on the other hand, have no one to buy for but myself."

"Vivianne!"

The blond sighed and returned to her spot beside the dark haired girl. "Fine, lets go to a different store. What were you thinking about getting him?"

Alessa sighed as they walked out of the department store and stepped onto the escalator. She ran a hand through her long brown hair, "I hadn't really thought about it, I mean I know I want it to be something special, its his eighteenth after all..."

Vivianne stepped infront of a store window and stared at her flawless complextion. She took a few bobby-pins and pinned back the side of her blonde bob. "So you want it to be meaningful."

Alessa chewed on her bottom lip. "Exactly."

Vivianne turned back towards Alessa with a smile on her face. "Come on, I have an idea."

--

Two beautiful girls sat in the middle of a giant bedroom on the floor, laughing until tears poured out of their wide eyes. The room itself was elegant, like the two porcelain dolls that called themselves teenagers. The walls were an off-white pearl color with golden trimming and high windows with deep burgundy curtains. There was a aqua armour chest against one of the walls, next to the walkin closet. The king sized bed was pushed against the joining wall, the comforter was white with big fluffy pillows, a small table next to the bed. The bathroom was located on the same wall as the bed and across from that was the door to the hallway. All in all it was a stunning room, with its golden carpet and its two occupants.

Alessa sat on the floor with Vivianne, she was laughing so hard she was having trouble breathing. "S-stop...I-I cant."

Vivianne was taking deep breaths, she was laying on her back, her long legs resting on Alessa's lap. "Okay, okay. I think I'm good."

Alessa jumped up, running into the bathroom, not even shutting the door. Vivianne sat up slightly, turning to look at her. "What the hell are you doing?"

Alessa pulled down her short-shorts and sat down on the toilet. "I was going to piss my pants." Vivianne looked at her strangely for a moment before letting out a howl of laughter.

"God. I think I just lost like 15 pounds from laughing so hard." Standing up she walked over to the bathroom and leaned against the door frame as Alessa was washing her hands.

"If you lost 15 pounds I think you would die."

Vivianne rolled her dark eyes and walked over to the sink, looking into the mirror she took the pins out of her golden hair and shook it wildly. She glanced at Alessa through the mirror.

"What now. You have that look in your eyes that tells me were about to do something I'm going to regret."

Vivianne smiled. "You know me so well." She took Alessa's hand and dragged her toward the closet. Alessa gave a laugh, her room could basically fit in Vivianne's closet, and all of those clothes...

Alessa looked at the girl in front of her rummaging through the racks of expensive clothes. She was a year her junior but one would never be able to guess. Vivianne was as tall as Alessa, thinner with a model-esque body, golden hair cut into a straight bob, and long legs were slightly tan as they came out of her pink short-shorts. She usually came off as a bitch to people because they were ignorant and assumed she was all money and fancy designer purses. Sure her parents possessed a high quantity of money and her brother was Thomas Anthony Smash, the most obnoxious person since Hitler; she was sure, but Vivianne was disgustingly funny and uncommonly kind to the people she loved. People just couldn't look past stereotypes, if they had they would see who Vivianne Marguerite Smash really was. The crazy, bubbly, sarcastic blond who she couldn't get enough of.

"Here, put this on." She thrust clothes into her arms and turned back to the racks picking out her own outfit. Alessa just shook her head, who would've thought that her best friend was the sister of the boy she despised. Life sure worked out in strange, strange ways.

--

Five outfits and four hundred pictures later the pair sat at Vivianne's computer desk, looking through there ridiculous photo shoot. Vivianne smirked, "Now its time for the real shoot."

Alessa glanced at her with a confused look. "What?"

Vivianne stood and walked over to her armour, opening it she pulled out one of the drawers and dumped it on her bed. Alessa walked over and her eyebrows raised at the articles, or lack there of, of clothing on her bed.

"Oh, no no no."

Vivianne smiled, "Oh, yes yes yes." She picked up an emerald lace bra and a matching thong in each hand, she wiggled them in front of Alessa. "Come on 'lessa, you said it yourself you wanted Jack's birthday present to be special. The gift is perfect, so lets make it stellar."

Alessa still looked slightly uneasy. "I dunno Viv..."

"Really 'lessa, what've you got to lose?"

Alessa thought it over before taking the lingerie from Vivianne's hands and walking into the bathroom to change. Vivianne called out to her and handed her a pair of black high heels to go with it. She stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She shook her head as she pulled the wife beater over her head and put on the lace bra. It was completely green lace, see through she realized as she put it on. She quirked her brow as she looked at her chest in the mirror, _'not bad'. _She pulled down her shorts and boy-cut underwear and kicked them away as she pulled on the tiny piece of green lace over her hipbones and stepped into the black heels.

God, what was she doing.

_'This is all for you Jack, so you better fucking appreciate it.'_

She opened the bathroom door and a flash went off in her face before she could even blink. "Wow, green is _really _your color." She picked up the Polaroid that fell to the floor and shook it until the picture appeared. She smiled that mischievous smile of hers before handing the picture to Alessa. "You my dear, are a natural."

In the picture Alessa's right hand held on to the door frame, her other hand was down at her side, lifted slightly. Her face was in slight shock, her lips formed a 'oh' shape, her pale eyes wide. Her dark hair was wild with twists and waves, her long bangs were straight and framed her face. It was, perfect.

"You're making this disgustingly easy I hope you know." Alessa blushed and smiled lightly. "Now get on the bed."

Twenty minutes later they had ended up in the spare bedroom with the stunning marble bathroom. Alessa had posed on practically everything in Vivianne's room and again in the spare room. She was currently on the bed, it was more masculine than Vivianne's, the bed frame was a dark wood and the sheets were a deep blue. She was on her knees, pulling the sheets up between her legs and over her frame.

"Okay I want to get some arial shots, so lay down and ill stand above you."

Alessa nodded her head. "Sure...hey, how about we try something a little differently."

Vivianne smirked. "Sure, I'm down for anything."

Alessa stood up and removed the green lace from her chest and tossed it on the ground, she glanced down to the other piece and looked at Vivianne. "Keep them, just tug them down a little...like this." She walked over and pulled down the material slightly on Alessa's hips.

She layed on the bed, her hair spread out behind her. Vivianne moved the bedside desk next to the side of the bed Alessa was laying on. She stood atop of it and started shooting the pictures of her dark haired friend. They would fall and Vivianne would pick them up, shake them, then put them down on the table next to her. Alessa had done a variety of different poses, some with help from Vivianne.

"You wanna take one with me?" Alessa said after a while.

Vivianne looked down at her quirking an eyebrow. "Oh?" Alessa let out a laugh and nodded her head. Vivianne giggled excitedly and ran into her room down the hall. Alessa stood up chuckling and walked into the bathroom stopping at her mirror to look at her reflection. She didn't have time to daunt on it though, because as soon as she put a hand to her wild tresses an over-zealous blond bounced into the room.

"Alessa come on, there are sexy pictures to be taken!"

She smiled and walked back into the bedroom to find Vivianne in a red polka-dot thong and black pumps, and a Polaroid camera in one hand, that's it. She stepped beside Vivianne as she took the 'myspace' shot from above. Then she put the camera on the bookshelf in front of them and set the two minute timer.

"Come on, turn in towards me. Make sure you leg is in between mine annnnd smile." The flash went off and there the two of them were turned in towards one another, Alessa's leg in between Vivianne's, Vivianne's hand on her hip and Alessa's hand in her hair.

"Theses pictures are going to put Jack in a permenant state of arousal I hope you know." Vivianne muttered as she picked up the polaroid and shook it.

--

He wandered into her room a little after nine, she was in the shower so it would be a while before he was caught snooping through her stuff. He wasn't really snooping through her stuff persay, he was just looking for anything involving Alessa. Vivianne was Alessa's best friend, so she was bound to tell her everything right? Isn't that how it worked?

He just needed something, anything that could help him get closer to her. He wasn't quite sure why he was bothering so much about one girl, but then he remember the epiphany he had the other day and it all made complete sense to him. He was in love with her, or at least he thought her was. He had never really been in love before, so he wasn't really sure how those feelings worked. All he knew was that he wanted, needed, this girl. She was everywhere, in his dreams, in his head. He had to get her out. She was affecting his life, his sport skills, even his reputation. So he searched through his sisters things, looking for something, anything that he could use to his advantage.

It came in the form of an envolope. It was white, normal, but the seal wasnt licked shut and on the front was on word. 'Alessa' in neat scrawl.

He opened the flap and took out the contents. One by one his eyes widened, and he felt a warm sensation trickle down his neck and the front of his waist. This...was beyond perfect. This was exactly what he needed. This, was what was going to make Jack Napier reach his breaking point. This, was what was going to make Alessa Elizabeth Way finally his.

--

Alessa walked into the store bright and early Monday morning, she wanted to get there before Jack realized she wasn't going to school that day. She avoided him all last night after she got home from her weekend with Vivianne. She had too, if she hadn't she would've spilled about his gift, both parts. He just had ways of making her tell him the truth, she was powerless to resist him. She didn't want to blow this, it was important to her. She was next on line, she gave the grouchy old woman her ticket number and the woman named 'Edna' returned from the back with her box. Alessa smiled as she signed the release form and left the shop with the perfect gift for her Jack. Now all she had to do was call Vivianne after school to come and pick up the photos and she would be all set for his birthday.

The day passed slowly for Alessa, she hadn't realized just how much she was never alone. Jack was usually always with her, and if for some reason he wasn't then Vivianne was. Sitting alone in her room with Jack gift wrapped on her bed made her realise this fact. It was quiet in the empty house, eerie almost. She sighed and waited until two o'clock, then bounded down the stairs and into her car as she drove to Vivianne's house before Jack could walk home.

Of coursse Vivianne wouldnt be home, when Alessa just happend to drop by. Instead of the blonde haired girl she was hoping to find, it was the blonde haired boy.

Alessa sighed as she got out of her car. "Hey Tommi, Vivianne around?"

Tommi was leaning against the side of his expensive sports car, "Nahh she had to stay after for some cheer thing. Why, can I help you with something?"

Alessa took a deep breath. "No, but thanks Tommi. Could you just tell her I stopped by?" Tommi nodded and walked over to her car as she was about to get in.

"Are you hungry?"

Alessa looked at him like he was crazy. "Why." He smirked. "I was just wondering if you wanted to grab a bite was all. My treat." Alessa looked him up and down, was he really asking her out? Honestly?

"Tommi you know I have a boyfriend. And remember what I told you when we were working on the project, were not friends."

He sighed. "Yeah I know, I just figured I'd give it a try." He chuckled. "Ya know, what've I got to loose." He seemed almost child-like, light-hearted. He seemed like a different person, someone she would like to be around, hang out with. She wondered if he knew that, and that's the reason why he was acting like this. She shook her head, she was being silly. Of course he didn't know, she was just over reacting.

She gave him one last look before turning and sitting in her car. She was about to shut the door when he caught it. "Alessa," he looked into her eyes. "You know that if you ever...need anything, you could always come to me right."

She rolled her eyes. "Tommi..."

"No Alessa, I mean it. You may not believe me but I really do want to be your friend. I've liked you for a long time, but if your happy with that fre- ...Jack, than I'm happy for you. I would rather have your friendship than nothing. So, I just wanted to let you know...that...I've got your back."

He smiled at her. It was such a kind smile that she almost didn't believe it was the same Tommi. It was incredibly surreal. She just nodded and he closed her door and patted the roof of her car before walking off towards the house.

She took a deep breath before starting the ignition and backing out of the long driveway.

Tommi watched her go from his spot on the porch. He had meant what he had said to her, well...most of it anyway. But when she realized that freak would break her, he would be there to pick up the pieces and collect what was rightfully his.

--

It was Wednesday before she had even seen Vivianne, she was busy with some spirit squad bullshit. Finally lunch rolled around and she left Jack sitting at their normal table and went in search for the blond. She had checked the Gym, the auditorium, even the Field. In desperation she walked by the Guidance office, and what did she find. Vivianne sat there with a nail file in her hands and a bored look on her beautiful face. Alessa walked through the door and into the waiting area.

"Viv, what are you doing in here?"

Vivianne looked mildly surprised to see Alessa standing in front of her. "Oh, I had to come and fill out my class elective sheet for next year. I've been waiting here for a good ten minutes. Why, whats up?"

Alessa sighed as she sat down next to her friend. "I've been trying to get in touch with you about picking up Jack's present. I feel kinda bad, I've been distant because I'm afraid he'll get it out of me and then his surprise will be ruined."

Vivianne paled slightly at the mention of the photos. "You mean...you didnt take the envelope when you left?"

Alessa's face dropped slightly. "No, why?"

Vivianne took a deep breath. "Shit...there, not at my house Alessa."

"WHAT!?"

Nearly everyone in the Guidance office was staring at them because of her outburst. Vivianne 'shh'-ed her, then smiled at everyone in the office before going back to the conversation when they looked away.

"They were in my desk, and when I went to get them this morning they weren't in there. All that was there were the pictures of you and I, so I just figured you only wanted to give Jack the ones of you, make it more special, ya know."

"Well who couldve taken them?"

They looked at each other, a knowing glint in there eyes.

"No...he wouldnt..."

Vivianne gave her a look. "Yes, he would." She took a deep breath. "Shit."

"We have to find him, now." Alessa nearly hollered.

"He left early today, something about wanting to rest up before his big game tonight."

Alessa stood up, dragging Vivianne up with her. "Well lets go then!"

The pair ran out of the waiting room and into the regular office where Alessa proceeded to sign them both out. As they reached Vivianne's car she took out her cell phone and texted Jack. Telling him something personal came up and she had to drive Vivianne home immediately, saying she'd explain later when she got home and that she loved him. She closed her phone and jumped in the car as they sped off towards the Smash residence.

--

Jack sat on the back steps of his kitchen door, cigarette in hand. His hair was wild with waves from not brushing it, his clothes rumpled from sleeping in them. His gaze was connected with the sky, watching as the clouds passed. He was tired, plain and simple. He hadn't been able to fall asleep the night before, the nightmare was back, the same one he'd had since he was twelve. He supposed it had to do with the fact Alessa wasn't there. She had spent the weekend at Vivianne's house, and hadn't come to see him the Sunday night she got home. She hadn't been in school Monday either. She claimed she had to go into the city to "pick up something", then she was distant the rest of the week. She even left school early today with Vivianne, so of course he was worried. Vivianne was Tommi's younger sister, which meant Alessa was in the same house as the boy who wanted nothing more than to pound him and possess her. It was bad enough that she had to do that stupid after school project with him and now she was spending un-needed amounts of time at his house? But Vivianne was her best friend, he had to respect that. He trusted her, he did, that's why he let her go without so much as a "stay away from him." .

Or at least he thought he did.

That was before she left him in lunch alone, searching for the female Smash. Before she sent him a vague text message that left him slightly worried, and before he went to his locker after lunch and the white envelope fell out.

He tore his eyes away from the picture-esque sky and down to the rumpled envelope beside him. He closed his pale eyes and breathed in deep before opening them and letting his gaze return to the blue and white.

The envelope had flittered down from the open locker to the floor. Hundreds of kids, walking by, never noticed anything strange. But time seemed to stand still for Jack as he bent over and picked up the fallen note. The front read 'Alessa' neat scrawl, the flap wasnt sealed so he turned it over and looked inside. The bell rang for class, but he didn't hear it as he took out the folded piece of paper from the envelope.

_'Alessa,_

_I'm so glad you said yes. You have no idea what this means to me, and don't worry, Jack will never find out. Promise. Here are the Polaroids from when you spent the night, I though you might want them to remember our together and how good it felt. I'm looking forward 'till next time._

_Love,_

_Thomas_

_p.s. Using Viv as a cover is such a great idea. Your brilliant love.'_

Jack had dropped the letter and took out the whatever else was in the envelope, and he wished he hadn't. By that point the hallways had cleared of students, so no one was there to see the silent rage in which his body possessed and the heavy anguish that was held in his eyes.

Now he sat on his back steps, his cigarette burning away. Not helping ease any of the tension he felt. So that's what she had been doing behind his back. All those sleepovers, the study sessions, the outings, they were all lies. Everything concerning her and Vivianne's relationship was a lie, a cover up for her and Tommi's affair. How could she do something like this to him,, he trusted her. He trusted her and she hurt him, just like everyone else.

He wasn't good enough for anyone he supposed. His father hated him, his mother left him in a time of need, Michael Way died, and now Alessa, the only person he'd ever loved betrayed him with his enemy. It seemed the only person he had left was Jayne. She was so good to him, she loved him, he knew she did. He just wondered if he would ever be able to fully accept her love, like she wanted him to.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of his gate opening. He looked over to find practically the last person he wanted to see at this moment. He acknowledged her presence before continuing to stare back up at the sky.

"Hey Jack...whats wrong." She walked over to him and ran a hand through his messy curls. His pale eyes shut and he took in a deep breath, a shudder took over his body.

He opened his eyes, but still refused to look at her. "Don't touch me." His voice was slow, even, but held a edge to it that she'd heard before.

She stopped running her hand through his hair and put it back at her side. "Whats wrong with you?"

He just sat there and continued to ignore her, the rage building inside of him. "Jack." He didn't move. She tried again. "Jack!" His pale eyes lifted to hers, she knew what color they actually were, but at the moment they looked much darker.

"I don't have to answer you." He was being childish, but he didn't care.

She raised her arms in exasperation, "Well I think I have the right to know why your mad at me!" she crossed her arms over her chest.

He stared her down from his seat on the steps before finally giving a "ha", and turning to pick up the envelope and throw it at her feet. "That." He pointed to the envelope. "That is why we are no longer together."

Her breath caught in her throat as she looked down at her feet. She picked it up, hoping to God it wasn't what she thought it was. She opened the flap and pulled out its contents.

"And when I say 'together' Alessa, I don't just mean as a couple. I mean as friends too."

She flipped threw the first few pictures to make sure it was really the ones Vivianne took of her. She let out a sigh of relief, this was just a whole big misunderstanding.

"What are you smiling about." His voice sounded gruff, more menacing than it she had really ever heard it. It almost frightened her.

"Jack, this is just a whole big misunderstanding, these aren't what you think they are."

His eyes turned to slits. "Oh really. Then is this just part of the misunderstanding." He lifted up the note from Tommi. His cigarette long gone, it wasn't helping ease this situation in the slightest.

"What is it?"

He gave her a twisted smile and let out a little chuckle. "Oh, now now now. Don't play games with me Alessa. You and I both know what this is, now is not the time to play stupid."

Alessa gave him a look. "Jack, I honestly have no idea what that is." She held up the Polaroids in her hand. "These were just something stupid Vivianne and I did. Then I decided that I wanted them to be part of your birthday present, they were for you Jack. Tommi stole them out of Vivianne's room and that's how I'm assuming you got them."

Jack just stared up at her. He wanted to believe her, he did, but a part of him had this thought brewing for such a long time that now he had proof, he didn't want to let it go. Her chest was heaving from her voice slightly escalating, her eyes wide in her attempt to prove to him that she was truthful. He stood up and looked down at the note.

"Really, because that doesn't look like Vivianne's room and here it basicly reads that you and Tommi have been having an affair behind my back. Using Vivianne as an excuse, promising that I would never find out. And that he took those pictures, not Vivianne."

His voice was dangerous, and now she was getting fed up. "God Damn Jack. Are you really going to believe a note fucking_ Tommi_, the boy who hates you, left in the envelope or my, your best friend, word for it."

They stared each other down for what felt like an eternity before Jack spoke. "Why are you lying to me." Although he was still angry, his voice came out sounding almost pleading at the end. He wanted to kick himself for being pathetic.

"But I'm not lying to you!"

"Yes you are! You've been distant all week, avoiding me almost. You leaving with out telling me, you don't wait for me when you get home. Your always out, out with either Vivianne or doing that fucking project with Tommi." He let out a laugh. "At least now I know what you were really doing." He motioned towards the Polaroids.

"Jack! Those were for you, call up Vivianne and ask her."

He scoffed. "Why so she can cover for you some more."

Alessa threw her hands up in defeat and anger, letting out a frustrated growl. "Jack, Vivianne and I went shopping for your birthday present. Then we went back to her house and took a bunch of stupid pictures before she suggested that I take pictures for you. She took a bunch of them and then she was even in the pictures with me! Now tell me, if Tommi really was the one taking the pictures, then why would a half-naked Vivianne be in them? Hmmm? That's what normal people would consider a form of incest, so it wouldn't happen!"

He crossed his arms over his chest. "So where are these pictures then. They aren't in there."

"There in Vivianne's top desk drawer. Tommi left them in there so this whole thing would look more believable. Besides, why would he want to see his sister in that state."

"This is just incredibly convenient. Of course they would be at Vivianne's."

"Uggghhhh! You know what Jack, your just jealous. Your jealous because I have other friends that aren't you, you jealous because Tommi likes me, you jealous because people actually like me. Your so afraid that I'm going to be the one to leave you, that I guess this is your only chance to be the man and dump me, cause you know you'll never ever again have this good of an excuse. Your so desperate to be normal Jack, and its sad. But I guess that's all you really are. Your sad, desperate, and pathetic."

She heared the slap before she felt it. It was a loud, clacking sound that burst the sound barrier of her bubble. Then she felt it, the stinging sensation that she had felt before. The force from the blow whipping her head to the side. On instinct her hand came up to tentatively touch her bruised cheek. She turned her head slowly back towards him, her eyes already glazed over with unshed tears. His jaw was clenched tighter than she had ever seen it, his face was set into a scowl, showing her that he wasn't going to regret what he did. But his eyes would tell a different story, they were the windows to his emotions. And right now his emotions were...angry? His aqua eyes held an anger that was there long before this day, but had only made it grow. She could see a sadness that possessed him, and a regret that lingered. She knew he meant it, and that made it hurt a whole lot more.

"I'm done with you." His fists were clenched as he turned around and walked up the steps to the kitchen door. "For good." He walked in and the door slammed behind them.

Alessa stood there for a good five minutes after Jack left her. She finally returned to her senses and picked up the fallen pictures and the note from the ground. She walked towards the door and lifted her hand tp turn the knob, but dropped it and walked back to her house alone.

On the other side of the door Jack slid down against it, his eyes staring at nothing and a single tear made it's way down his face before he stood up. He wouldn't regret what he just did, he made a choice and he was stick by it. He walked further into the kitchen and threw everything in sight. This is soo not how he wanted everything to turn out. Right when he thought things couldn't get any worse there was a knock at the front door. He stalked over to it and thrust it open, only to come face to face with the last person he ever thought he'd see.

"Mom?"

--


	8. Say what now

I'm back! I know, you excited. More to come. Comments, ideas, suggestions I loveee them all.

* * *

He felt as though he was being punched repeatedly in the chest. She was standing in front of him, here yes greedily taking him in as her hands fidgeted with her purse. It went on like that for a while, silence overtaking both of them as he stared in shock.

"Hello Jack."

He felt his heart break, how many time was this going to happen today? He gulped back the sob that he didn't want to escape. She didn't deserve his tears, no on did, not his father, not his mother, and especially not Alessa. They could all burn in hell for all he cared.

"Well...aren't you going to invite me in?"

Her voice sounded hopeful and he hated it. He was angry with her, rightly so, she walked out on his in one of the most crucial times of their life. She left him a freak, an orphan, alone.

"Why, so you can just walk out again."

His voice was laced with poison and she stepped back. It stung, and she hadn't realized just how much it would.

"Jack -"

"What do you want." She gave him a strange look. "You left me almost six years ago and now you show up out of nowhere and expect me to yell "Mommy" and run into your arms?"

She looked down sadly. "I never expected that."

"Then what did you expect?"

Joyce sighed. "I expected you to be angry and upset. You have every right to be Jack, I screwed up, I'm the bad mother. But you don't know what it was like for me, to put up with that constant abuse, watching that monster hurt you...I, I couldn't do it anymore."

He felt his blood boil and surge threw his veins. "And you think that I liked watching as you hid under the kitchen table battered and bruised? Or having to walk around with broken ribs because you were to embarrassed and poor to take me to the E.R.?"

"You know I lways tried to do the best I could in that situation and your father -"

"Look, I don't care that you left. I get it, but why..." his voice cracked and he took a deep breath, attempting not to cry. "Why didn't you take me with you?"

Joyce felt any resolve she might've had break in that moment. Hearing his deep voice crack like a little boy, her little boy, made her want to drop to her knees. He stared intently at her, waiting for her to say something, anything, and then...she cried. It started out slow, her eyes glassy, brimmed with liquid until a few escaped and she couldn't blink them back any longer. He sighed as he grabbed at her and and pulled her inside the house.

Once the door closed she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him against her. She cried into his hair, and although he had to bend down a little to do so, he found he didn't mind. She stroked his curls and whispered nothings into his ears, he couldn't help the tears that came.

"My boy, my baby boy. I'm so sorry, I'm just so sorry. If only I was stronger, if only I wasn't so stupid. I wish I could take so much back, I had always wished so much for you. I was selfish Jack, my Jack, I was just so selfish that at the first sign of freedom I took it. I left the only think that truly mattered to me and for what?"

She cried as she stroked him and he cried into her neck, he wasn't sure when they had crumpled to the ground, but at the moment all he cared for was this. The feeling of a mother consoling a son. "I know mom, I know", was the only thing he could mutter back.

"I don't expect you to forgive me for what I did, I just hope that in time you will be able to." she kissed his forhead. "God, I love you Jack."

"I love you too, mom."

--

She put the tea kettle on the stove and took out two glasses from the cupboard. She watched him, silently, as he sat at the table staring at his hands, a troubled look in his aqua eyes that had nothing to do with her. He had grown so much, it made her want to weep at how much she had missed. He was tall with broad shoulders, long golden curls, a deep voice, and piercing eyes. Her gaze found its way to his mouth, the jagged scars teasing her with the memory of what happened in this house those years ago. Her poor Jack.

"Stop it."

She blinked and looked up into his eyes, they held an anger that she didn't understand.

"Stop staring at them, I know they're there and I don't want to see the pity in your eyes when you look at them."

"Jack, stop being like that. I'm your Mother, not one of your little friends or kids at school, I'm allowed to be concerned about you."

He wanted to argue with her, but found he couldn't. As much as he hated that look in other peoples eyes, it was coming from his Mother's this time, the woman that gave birth to him. He wanted her to feel pity for him, he wanted her to kiss them and make it all better, he wanted that, and until this moment he hadn't seen how much.

"Jack," she sat down at the table next to him. "whats really wrong? I know that before I came something was bothering you."

He looked down at the table, away from her. "I just got into a fight with a friend is all." She looked at him knowingly. "So, what ever happened to the Way girl? Alessa-beth?"

She watched the flash in his eyes and the slight tension in his jaw. "Shes fine. She still lives down the road with her Mother Jayne, you remember her don't you."

"Of course I remember her, is she still with that horrid man?"

"Yeah."

Joyce shook her head. "That poor woman." She paused for a moment before she turned to him again. "Jack, when I was...when I was gone, did she take care of you?"

Jack nodded his head. "Yeah, yeah she did. She treated me like I was hers." He looked up and met her eyes and Joyce placed a hand on his cheek. "I'm not sure how I can ever repay her."

She kept rubbing his cheekbone with her thumb, his eyes fluttered closed in a relaxed state. "You never answered my question." His eyes drifted back open to look at her. "Whatever happened to you and Alessa-beth? You two were closer than anything I've ever seen, and I could've sworn you had a crush on her."

A smile drifted onto her face and Jack felt his heart swell with pain. How could he tell her that they were in fact no longer friends? How could he tell her that he didn't just have a crush on her anymore, that he in fact was in love with her? That they had sex and kissed and shared things together?

"Things change."

With that he got up and walked down the stairs into his bedroom, slamming the door on his way. Joyce sighed and got up to take the tea kettle off the burner, shaking her head at teenagers in general.

--

He couldn't help but stare at the picture from where he lay in bed. He could turn his head away, but then he'd have to face the wall, so there he lay looking at the picture. It was a nice picture, one of his favorites actually, well used to be. It was a picture of Alessa that he had taken shortly before one of their heated fights, ending in a warm kiss that left him rather dizzy. Her hair was loose, landing in soft waves and twist of curls down her back. She was wearing simple sleepwear but looked beautiful all the same, clad in silk pants and a black tank top. He had made a rude comment about her getting ready for a nightly visitor and she managed to come up with a scathing reply, he clicked the camera when she ran a hand through her hair and grinned at him in triumph. The picture came out looking like an entirely different story though, making her look more like she was giving him a saucy smirk and motioning to him sexily.

He sighed, wiping a hand over his tired eyes. It had been almost a week and a half since the fight with Alessa and the reappearence of his Mother, both of which still left him reeing. One of the hardest parts about the whole thing was not being able to talk to his best friend about the sudden entrance of his Mother back into his life. Sure, he loved her, but she had always been his best friend first and now he had no one. He hadn't even told anyone, not even Jayne that his Mother was back.

The whole week of school had been extremely hard in its self, sitting alone at lunch, avoiding her eyes every time he saw her. All he could do was think of her, think of what she had said to him and what he had done to her. He had struck her. He had actually hit her when he promised himself he would protect her from that. God knows she got enough of it from Richard, and it just made him think about how much like his father he really was.

He could only look at her when he knew she wasn't aware. She was always with Vivianne, the blond constantly consoling the older girl, who couldn't seem to help the crying that overtook her. Her skin took on a paler colour that usual, her long hair more curly and unkempt, she wore cardigans and jeans every day.

She looked a mess.

But he was sure he didn't look his best either. The stress of everything finally coming down upon him, he wasn't eating, he wasn't sleeping, his clothes looked frumpled and dirty. He had constant headaches and all he wanted to do was curl up in the arms of the person who put him here in the first place. He hated to admit it, he hated to feel the way he did but, he needed her.

It was with that revelation, that he decided to skip school today and just lie there in bed. He could hear his mother humming upstairs, making tea and toast for them. It was a Wednesday, and completely uneventful. That was, until he heard the doorbell ring.

Joyce had been in the kitchen when in rang, closest to the door she answered it. She was suprised to see the slightly younger woman standing before her, holding a glass dish full of breakfast food. She held a shy smile on her face while the other woman's mouth was agape and her eyes wide.

"Hello Jayne."

"You, your back."

Jayne could hear footsteps behind Joyce and a call of 'Whose at the door?" before Jack appeared. "Jayne? What are you doing here?" He moved his mother out of the way and took the dish from Jayne's hands, motioning for her to come in.

"I, I just, Alessa told me what happened and you hadn't been by for a few days so I thought I'd come over and leave some food in the fridge for you."

She still had a shocked tone to her voice and her eyes were still a little wide as she followed them into the kitchen. Joyce Napier looked much older than she had the last time Jayne had seen her, and although they were not to far apart in age, one would never be able to tell.

"Joyce, I, I don't know what to say."

There was a smile on her face, it reached her eyes, but on the inside she couldn't feel anything but hatred for the woman. She up and left her only child at the tender age of twelve and now she shows up unannounced. Jayne couldn't help but feel over protective of Jack, she had only clothed him, feed him, and took care of him for the past six years or so.

She let out a small laugh and a smile made its way to her face, making it appear younger. "Its good to see you too Jayne. I know we weren't very close and I know I'm not very vocal and out there but I've been meaning to stop by and thank you, although I'm not sure how I'm ever going to be able to thank you enough for taking care of Jack."

Jayne waved it off. "Oh please, it was nothing. I felt as though he was my son anyway, and since my Alessa loves him so much, it only felt right."

Jack, of course, hadn't missed her tense of the word 'love', but he hoped his mother had. He hoped she hadn't catched the bit about what happened between Alessa and himself, but he could only hope.

"Really, you've done so much for our family over the years, I honestly don't think I'll ever be able to repay you."

Jayne smiled, Jack could tell she was uncomfortable. "Oh, really, Jack has been help enough. Hes such a good boy." She smoothed down the back of Jack's hair in a loving manner.

"So, tell me, how has your Alessa-beth been? Jack just won't seem to tell me anything." She let out a little laugh, attempting to make the conversation more casual.

"Alessa-beth? Wow, I haven't heard someone call her that since grade school." She let out a chuckle. "She's good, she's graduating this year, along with Jack, and she's doing the school play."

They chit-chatted a while longer about Alessa and a little about Jack, as though he weren't in the room. The two women stood in the middle of the kitchen, while he had moved over to lean against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, observing them.

"You know, I would've bet a million dollars that our kids would get married one day." She turned to Jack. "What happened Jack, you two used to be such good friends."

Jack sighed and looked down at the floor. "We were good friends, then we dated, and now we aren't." He looked up at the both of them. "Shit happens."

He could feel Jayne's eyes boring into his head and he strategically kept his eyes away from hers, he knew she'd talk to him about this later. They had changed the topic and talked a little while more before Jayne had to excuse herself and asked if Jack could help her with some stuff around the house. The walk to the Way residence, although short, was in silence. Jack wasn't entirely sure how to take it, good or bad, he just decided to wait and see.

They walked in through the back door, entering the kitchen. Jayne walked in and sat down at the kitchen table, Jack followed suite and sat across from her. She heaved a sigh and lifted her eyes to his.

"Wow."

All he could do was nod his head.

"How do you feel?"

"About my mom being back?" Jayne nodded her head. "I'm not sure. I'm angry with her, hell I'm probably always going to be mad at her. But she's my Mother, as much as I don't like it, she is."

Jayne took his hand in hers and he looked into her eyes. "I hope you know this, all of this, even the stuff with 'Less, isn't going to change anything and everything you've done for me. Your always going to be my mom Jayne."

Jayne felt the tears come to her eyes and she leaned across the table and touched his face with her hand. "Jack, I don't care whats happened, or happens, you will always be my son. And I just want to say something, and I hope you won't take it the wrong way." He nodded his head. "I just don't to see you get hurt...I don't know how to say this."

"Jayne, I think I can take it."

"Well," she paused, and put both of her hands on his one. "just don't get your hopes up about your Mother...staying."

He looked down at their hands, her hand squeezing his with a gentle reassurance. He knew that she would probably leave eventually, he still wasn't quite sure why she was back in the first place. "I know Jayne."

She sighed. "Alright then. Now, about Alessa -"

"I don't really want to talk about this." He untangled their hands and pushed his chair back until it hit the wall behind him.

"Jack, this is important." He crossed his arms over his chest and stubbornly turned his head in another direction. "Jack, please, I would really like to hear about what happened from your point of view. Then, as the adult I know you are, I would like you to listen to me because I know you aren't going to listen to Alessa." He still wouldn't look in her direction, but he sighed and nodded his head.

"Fine."

"Good. Now I know Alessa probably said somethings she didn't mean, you know how she gets -"

"Jayne, I really don't want to talk about this."

"Jack-"

"No, Jayne." He stood up and walked around the table towards the door. "I can't do this, I love you Jayne but I can't do this with you. I'll talk to Alessa when I'm ready."

She stood up, following after him. "But you will talk to her." He shrugged his shoulders. "Eventually."

She gave a sigh of relief and brought him into a hug. "Oh, good. I was so afraid that I would never see the two of you together again." She brought her eyes up to look at his. "She's a mess you know."

He looked down, his head hung low, "Yeah, I know. Listen Jayne, I'm mad at her, but it doesn't change the fact that I love her." he sighed. "Even though I've tried not to."

"It's hard not being over here all the time, and not being with her in school. She was really my only friend."

He heard the front door open and close, and foot steps making their way into the kitchen. "Mom...Mom I hope you don't mind, but I skipped the last two periods...I wasn't feeling so good -" She walked into the kitchen and Jack stepped out of Jayne's embrace. "Jack, I, -"

"I better get home."

With that he turned away and walked out the back door. Alessa could feel the tears come to her eyes as she watched him shut the door and slowly walk across the lawn.

"Alessa..."

She threw down her book bag and stormed out the backdoor after him, "Jack!" she ran after him, catching up to him quickly. "Jack, wait. Please wait." He stopped with his back facing her.

"What do you want."

His voice was laced with such disdain that she felt her heart drop in her chest. It was the voice he used when he spoke of Tommi or his father, never in his life had he used it with her. It hurt.

"I'm sorry. About what I said to you, I'm sorry. I wasn't lying to you Jack, everything I said was the truth and I really wish you would believe me."

He turned around slowly to face her, his face void of any emotion but his eyes still held an anger in them. He looked her up and down, her jeans were low around her hips, her shirt bagged over her heavy chest, her hair lay in messy curls around her shoulders, her skin looked pallid, and her eyes, those eyes, were bloodshot, full of anger and laced with sadness. He couldn't do it, he couldn't see her in this state, all because of him. Even in this state she still looked o beautiful to him and he couldn't deal with the urges that took place within him. He shook his head and started walking away.

She ran after him, putting a hand on his back and tugging at his arm. He whipped around and gently untangled himself from her grasp. "Don't touch me."

She stepped back. "Why, you had no problem touching me, especially when you slapped me. Or did you conveniently forget about that." She could see the anger flash through his eyes and she knew she had his attention now.

"You atleast owe me a couple of minutes because of that."

"I don't owe you anything."

"Honestly Jack, are you really going to believe Tommi over me?"

They stared at each other, breathing heavily, not moving. It was the voice of Joyce Napier that brought them out of their coma. "Jack, is that you? Who are you talking to?"

Jack watched as Alessa's eyes went from him to his mother, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. She turned her pale gaze from his mother back to him and he thought she was going to drop to the ground in shock.

"Oh my goodness, is that little Alessa-beth? Come here child and let me take a good look at you!"

Alessa was still staring into Jack's eyes with surprise and confusion before she broke eye contact and walked across the yard to where Joyce stood. The woman was dressed in normal jeans and a blue blouse, the clothes were worn and old, and she looked the same as Alessa remembered her. Joyce took her into a hug and put her at arms length to examine her further.

"Look how beautiful you've gotten, not that you weren't a beautiful child because heaven knows you were, but your a woman now!" Her smile was wide as she looked over the girl who had stolen her son's heart at a very young age. "Isn't she lovely Jack?"

Jack stood a good distance away with his arms folded over his chest, watching the scene before him, a sight he never in his life thought he'd see. "Yes, she is." His voice was gruff and a little angry sounding. Alessa looked over her shoulder and found Jack's eyes boring into hers with his statement.

"Joyce," she let out a nervous little laugh. "when did you get back?"

"Almost two weeks ago, I'm surprised Jayne didn't tell you."

Her face paled and Jack could see the flash of anger in her green eyes. "Jayne? As in my mother?"

"Well, yes. She stopped by here earlier today." Alessa nodded her head but Jack could see the hurt in her eyes. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything when I came out here."

"Oh, no...uh Jack and I were just talking about -"

"School work."

She gave him a grateful look for giving her a excuse, she really didn't want to have to explain to his mother what they were really discussing.

"Yeah, school work."

"Oh, well I'll just leave you to it then." She smiled at Alessa and brushed some stray curls out of her face. "And Alessa, its really nice to see you again. Don't be afraid to stop by and say hello."

With that she went back inside and left the two of them alone once again. As soon as the kitchen door shut Alessa whirled around and stalked over towards where Jack stood. She pushed at his shoulders, making him stumble slightly.

"Why didn't you tell me."

He stood straight up over her and looked down into her eyes. "We weren't really on the best of speaking terms. Besides, its none of your business."

"None of my buisness? I've only been your best friend for the last eleven years, how could something this big not be my buisness."

"I'm done talking about this Alessa."

"Jack, you mothers back. She just appeared back into your life and you have nothing to say about it?"

He shrugged his shoulders, his voice cold. "I guess not."

"I know you Jack. I know you better than probably anyone and I know your not buying your mother just showing up out of the blue. I know that your confused and hurt and angry, and I know your angry with me. But Jack, lets be realistic, who else are you going to talk to about this that's going to understand?"

"Not you."

"Jack! I'm sick of this!"

"Well you should thought ahead before you had sex with Tommi."

She shook her head and laughed. "You are honestly the stupidest person I've ever met." She took an envelope out of her back pocket and handed it to him. "Here, here's the other set of pictures I didn't lie to you about. When you're ready to forgive me for something I didn't do, you know where to find me."

She walked away from him and across the lawn and through the neighboring yards to her own. He watched her walk away from him and all of a sudden his shoulders felt as though they weighed a thousand pounds and he had to fight the urge to sit down. He opened the lip of the envelope and took out the pictures that were inside. The Polaroids were of Alessa and Vivianne, as promised. He went inside and straight into his bedroom and took out one of the pictures that had fallen out of the envelope that night. It was of Alessa laying on a bed, her hair spred out around her, her long legs up in the air, and a smile on her lips. He compared the date on the Polaroid to the ones she had just given them, they were the same.

He flipped through the polirods of Alessa and Vivianne, they started out in what he assumed was Vivianne's room from the color of the walls and the clothes on the bed. Then they were in a different room, a more masculine room with blue bedsheets, which was wear he guessed the picture he had of just Alessa took place. All of the angles looked as though they set the timer or took the pictures themselves.

He sighed and raked a hand through his hair, he knew he had been wrong, these pictures proved it. But he had just been so sure, he had felt the feeling in his gut. Maybe Alessa had been right, maybe that had been his only chance, maybe he had only saw what he had wanted to see. Everyone else in his life had screwed him over, he just figured in time Alessa would too.

Why did he always do this?

Why did he always find a way to push everyone away from him?

He put the pictures in his nightstand drawer, he turned off his lamp and laid down on his bed. Closing his eyes, he decided not to think about anything until tomorrow and just go to sleep.

--

He awoke to the sound of sirens, they must've been fairly close for them to wake him up. He sat up and looked over at his alarm clock, it was dark in his room and his clock read a little after three in the morning. He rubbed his eyes, stood up and stretched before walking up the stairs into the kitchen. He walked over to the front window in the living room, pushing the curtians aside and looked outside to see where the ambulance was parked. It was parked outside...the Way household.

He jumped up from where he was kneeling on the couch and threw open the front door. Tearing down the side walk he ran to where the police cars were parked and saw them carrying someone out on a stretcher. He saw Richard standing over to the side, talking to a few officers, his shirt ripped, his knuckles bloody and the startings of a black eye.

He felt his breathing become rapid and his eyes serching franticly. He found Jayne sitting in one of the ambulences crying and they both looked as though they were getting ready to leave for the hospital. _'So if Jayne was there, and Richard was over there, that could only leave...'_

He ran over to where Jayne was sitting in the ambulance. "Jayne! Jayne!" She looked up and started to sob even more. Some of the officers were attempting to hold him back, but at Jayne's request they let him through.

He ran up to her and took her into a hug. "Jayne, what happened. Where's Alessa."

She couldn't control the sobs that racked her thin body. "R-richard-d..." That was all he needed to know.

He stalked over to where the officers were talking to Richard. "What are you doing?! Why aren't you arresting him? Don't you see what he's done, what he's been doing to this family for years?"

They just looked at him and Richard stared at hjim with eyes ablaze. "Go home freak, this is none of your business." He turn back to the officers. "Ignore him, he's James Napier's son. He seemed to have gotten a blow to the head when his father gave 'em those scars, doesn't know when to shut his god damn mouth."

Jack clenched his jaw and walked away and went over to where the ambulance was putting Alessa in the back and where Jayne was still sitting. He jumped in before the techs could say anything and helped close the doors. He sat beside Jayne, taking Alessa's bloody hand in his. Her face was pretty bruised up and bloody, her tank top was torn and she wasn't wearing pants. She had bruises and cuts all along her thighs and chest, he couldn't see her stomache or ribs but by the way she cried every time she took a breath in, he was pretty sure she had some broken ones.

She cried out and grasped his hand tighter, "Alessa," he called softly. "Alessa." She didn't seem to be responding.

He went close to her face and over the roar of the sirens and the beeping of the heart monitor he sang softly. "Come Josephine in my flying machine, and up she goes, up she goes..."

She seemed to relax, although her grip on his hand didn't. He was sure she knew it was him and he just kept singing softly to her until they arrived at the hospital.

* * *


	9. Not so silent night

**A/N:** I'm not sure what happened, but apparently when I uploaded chapter ten it messed with the other chapters and this one got deleted. Thank you _AlmostAVampire_ for kindly letting me know. So, I'm just uploading it again! Its the same one that you've all read, nothings changed but the next chapter and this author's note.

Just as a side note, this chapter does contain violence and rape, if your not comfortable with that just skip to the first break line and read after that!

Thank you all soo much, please review and let me know what you think!

* * *

She slammed the back door, leaning against it for a moment to compose herself. It didn't work though, the tears began to cloud her vision, making it blurry. She wasn't sure exactly why she was crying, she had been crying for the past week, constantly crying. She missed him, she needed him, she loved him. She had always had him, he had always just been there, always by her side whenever she needed him. She gave herself to him willingly, she yearned for his touch, his tender looks and soft caresses. She was the only one who received them, he made her feel special, he brought her into his world and she hadn't ever wanted to leave. She had been in his world since she was six, now she was all alone in this reality she didn't fully comprehend.

She managed to push herself from the door and make her way to the staircase that lead upstairs, she could hear her Mother singing in the shower as she passed the open down stairs door. God, she so didn't want to deal with her, she'd ask to many questions and bring up more heartache. She raced up the stairs, but in her haste and teary vision she tripped, catching herself before she hit her head, but banging her leg against the the sharp corner of the stair. Cursing in pain she slowly got up and continued up the stairs, slower this time until she made it to her room. The door was lightly ajar, but in her foggy Jack-filled mind, she didn't notice anything peculiar.

She pushed the door open all the way, walking in unhindered, but paused when she saw Richard standing there with his back to her. He was standing in front of her bed, his head bowed as he looked at something in his hands. "Richard?"

She didn't understand, he had never been in her room before, she didn't even know he was home. He stiffened at the sound of her voice, turning slowly to face her. She looked nervous, her eyes red from crying, her shirt slightly baggy, her jeans low on her hips. He shook his head in disgust, "You want to explain these to me you little whore." He held up his left hand, the pictures she had taken with Vivianne resided in his fist. He watched the shocked expression come over his face, her perfect mouth hanging open. He groaned at the thought of that perfect mouth of hers, too bad she only used it to get in trouble.

He had come up here looking for her, the school had called saying that she had left early but forgot her purse when she signed out. He wanted to know why she had left early, wondering if it had anything to do with that little freak from down the road. He had been pleased to hear that they were fighting, the boy hadn't been by lately and Richard prayed that meant he wouldn't be corrupting his innocent little Alessa anymore, that was his job after all. Finding that she wasn't up in her room, he had turned to leave when a vivid white envelope caught his eye, sitting all alone on her desk top. Opening it he found, pictures, pictures of Alessa posing almost fully naked. He clenched his fists in anger, yet he felt his body harden at the sight of her in such a state.

She had always been a beautiful child, she was her Mother's daughter after all. But then she turned thirteen, growing out of her awkward pre-pubescent state, then she turned fourteen and gained a chest as well as a figure. He couldn't help the urges he had towards her, now she was a supple seventeen year old with such perfect breasts and an hour glass shape. Sure, he had never acted on his urges, he came close a few time when he was beating her for her Mother's mistakes, but he had never wanted to more than in this moment. These pictures were the last straw, she was very obviously a bad girl and needed to be taught a lesson. And if these had anything to do with that Napier boy, he closed his eyes tight at the thought of that wretched little shit looking and touching his little Alessa. He almost wished these had something to do with the boy, it would give him so much more of an excuse to kill him.

"Wh-where did you get those?"

She moved to take the pictures from him, but he brought his hand up high above him, out of her reach. "I found them here, sitting for all the world to see. What, you wanna show the world whats under those clothes of yours, huh?"

"Why were you in my room in the first place?"

Her tone held attitude, he wasn't having any of that. "This is my house, I pay the bills, I can go wherever I damn well please." He threw the pictures down on the ground, advancing on her as she stepped back cautiously. "I think its about time I showed you what happens to mouthy girls like you."

He was cracking his knuckles and she ran towards the door. "Oh, no you don't." He gripped her waist, throwing her easily on the floor, "You wanna act like a whore, then I'm going to treat you like one." he straddled her thighs, pinning her arms above her head with his hand.

She screamed and he drew back his hand, smacking her hard in the face. The force of the blow caused her vision to blur and blacken for few moments, but she kept struggling against him. He ripped the front of her t-shirt open, exposing her chest, he roughly grabbed at one of her breasts and she struggled to get her hands free. She managed to free one of her hands and punched him in the face blindly, he sat back in pain and she rolled over onto her stomach, trying to get crawl from where he sat on her thighs.

"So that how you want it you little bitch." He grabbed her by her hair, pulling her head back to meet his. "So is this how you like it, huh? Is this how you let that disfigured freak fuck you."

She whimpered in pain and he threw her head back down. Moving to her waist he started tugging her jeans off her form, he heard her screaming again so he pulled her head back up by her hair and slammed it back down against the floor, trying to get her to shut her mouth. Her head had been turned when he pushed her into the floor, her cheekbone breaking the fall and collecting most of the damage, she heard a crack from somewhere, not realizing it was from her face and not able to make a sound because of the pain. He managed to get her jeans off all the way, he went for her underwear but she surprised him by kicking him in the groin.

He doubled over and she scrambled up running towards the door, screaming as loud as her lungs would let. He jumped up after her before she reached the stairs, grabbing one of her legs and kicking her in the ribs when she went down. He flipped her over, sitting on her arms and waist as he unbuckled his belt and popped the button off his black pants, moving them down to his thighs with his boxers, he grabbed both her arms pinning them above her head again. He moved her underware to the side, thrusting himself quickly in her. She screamed from the pain, struggling against him seemed to only make it hurt worse as he thrust in and out of her with force, but she couldn't just lie there and do nothing.

He groaned at how tight she was, maybe she had been a virgin after all, he didn't mind though, young virgins were his favorite. She struggled against him but that just made it all the more exciting. He pulled out of her, flipping her over so he didn't have to see her tears, he didn't even notice the figure silently walking up the staircase over Alessa's screams and cries. He felt the pain in the back of his neck, rolling off Alessa, she sprang up to see her Mother standing with a baseball bat in her hands.

Richard stood up quickly, albeit wobbly, and pushed Jayne down the staircase next to them. Alessa tried to run after her Mother but was pulled back by Richard, "Oh no, were not finished yet."

She struggled against him clawing at his face and neck until he finally let go, Alessa grabbed his shirt, ripping it. She tumbled down the stairs and landed by her Mother, who was clutching her arm and struggling to get to the phone in the kitchen. Richard walked down the stairs slowly, bat in hand. He reached the bottom, grabbing one of Alessa's thighs harshly, pulling her somewhere, but by that point she had already blacked out from the fall.

* * *

She couldn't take the beeping in her ears anymore, beep, beep, beep, she was honestly going to kill herself. Her eyes were closed and she was laying down, the bed wasn't that comfortable and she felt like she couldn't move her body. Where was she? She could feel people whispering in hushed tones beside her and someones hand was grasped in hers, she shifted slightly and felt intense, searing pain.

"Come Josephine in my flying machine, and up she goes, up she goes..."

It was whispered gently in her ear, the hand in hers was running their fingers soothingly over her bruised knuckles.

"Alessa! Oh God, don't move, it'll only hurt more."

The voice belonged to her Mother wasn't the one holding her hand. Her eyes fluttered open, dis-focused and blurry, but she could make out two figures amongst the florescent hospital lights. That's where she was, a hospital! Her mother sat on the edge of the bed, her arm in a cast supported by a sling, her nose heavily bruised. She looked down at her hand entwined with a larger more masculine one, her gaze lifted from their hands to his face.

"Jack,"

His eyes bore into hers, full of apologies and sorrow but laced with a rage that was no longer for her. She felt as though she wanted to cry, but it hurt too much. She turned to Jayne, "Mommy, what happened?"

She saw the tears in her eyes and she wiped them away with her good hand, "Well, baby," she took Alessa's other hand in her's. "you don't remember anything?"

Alessa looked down, away from her Mothers upsetting gaze. She remembered talking to Jack, giving him the other pictures and meeting his Mother, then...nothing. No, she remembered crying, walking up the stairs and tripping because her vision was blurry. Richard was in her room and he was holding something, that's where her memory faded, in and out. She felt faint pain in her lower region, she remembered being hauled to the ground, like James Napier had done to her all those years ago. The pain in her face, her chest, then the cold air hitting her bare legs, then darkness and singing.

She hadn't realized the tears falling down her face until she felt Jack's long fingers gently brushed them away. "I'll kill him." She shook her head. "No."

Although her memory was hazy, she got the gist of what had happened, what her body was telling her. "Where is he." Her voice was full of contempt and hatred and for once, Jack was slightly afraid of her. "He's, he's down at the station."

He could see a small amout of relief flood her eyes, but her body didn't relax at Jayne's tone, neither did her frown. "They're arresting him right, putting him in jail."

She saw her Mother's gaze falter as she looked at Jack, debating. "Well,...no." The shocked look on Alessa's face and the tears that threatened to fall caused a rage in Jack that he hadn't felt in many years. "Why not?"

Jayne sighed looking away from her daughters eyes. "Because he's a Lieutenant, he said he was acting in self defense and we don't have enough evidence to say otherwise."

"But...but he...he raped me!"

Jack sprung up from the chair he was sitting on, walking over to the opposite side of the room, near the door, his shoulders tense, back rigid. He has his suspicions when he saw her, he knew they were accurate from the look in the examiners eyes after they did the rape kit, still, it was one thing to know and a whole other to hear her say it. He had to get out of there, he needed to hit something, hard, he bit his lip until he tasted blood. Yes, he broke up with Alessa, believed she betrayed him, stopped talking to her for a while, but it didn't change the facet that she was his. She gave herself to him, he loved her with every ounce of his being. He didn't care if it was Richard, Tommi, some random kid, or the King of fucking England, they touched his Alessa and now they were going to pay. Richard didn't deserve pity, he didn't show any to Alessa or Jayne, so he certainly wasn't going to give it. It may not be now or next week, maybe years from now, but Jack would kill him. Slow, and painfully.

His voice was low, deep, deadily, his fists clenched. "I promise you. He will never touch you, either of you, again."

"Jack - "

He looked over his shoulder at Alessa, she looked so...fragile, so broken. He would kill before he would see her like that ever again. She watched the looks that passed through his pale eyes, she saw the sadness that settled there when he looked upon her. He would burn the city to the ground if it meant he could take yesterday back.

Jayne had tears in her eyes from Alessa's remark, her chest felt uncommonly tight and she couldn't breath. She knew what Richard had done, but it just pained her more to hear her daughter say it. She watched the looks that passes between them, knowing they needed to talk, and knowing she needed to calm herself down, she excused herself, seemingly unknown to them. Jack slowly made his way over to her after Jayne left to get some "coffee", his back was still rigid, his shoulders tense. He sat down in the chair next to her, his hands folded, his head resting on top of them. He wasn't looking at her, he couldn't, not yet. He sighed, "Listen Alessa, I'm sorry, about everything."

She reached over and started running her fingers threw his curls as he talked. "You were right, I don't trust people. I would never have a better excuse than the one presented to me, I just figured you'd up and leave me like she did." He sighed. "I'm still angry, not so much at you anymore, just in general. And you have absolutely no idea how furious I am at him right now."

He turned his head to look at her face, she had a shattered cheekbone, bruising on her forehead, three broken ribs, stitches at the base of her neck from her fall down the stairs, and plenty of bruising and cuts all along her arms and legs. He felt all her pain as though it was his own, wishing there was something he could do to fix it. "There is something you can do." Had he said that out loud? "You can kiss me."

He looked into her eyes and saw her smiling softly. She wanted him back? After he was such a dick to her, after she was raped and beaten by her step-father, after he purposely avoided telling her about his mother, she wanted him back? Or, maybe she just wanted to be friends, like a friendly kiss?

All he could do was nod his head dumbly and gently kiss her bruised lips. She brought her hand to his face, stroking it lovingly. He couldn't help the word vomit that flowed from his mouth, it had been to long without her. "I don't know what she's playing at. I don't know why she's back and I don't know how long she's planning on staying...none of it makes sense. Why come back now? She's just walking about the house like nothing ever happened, like the stains in the living room carpet aren't there, like she had always been cooking and cleaning for me, waking me for school, washing my clothes..."

He turned his pale eyes to her, his brow furrowed in thought and confusion. "I just...I don't get it."

Alessa ran her fingers over his face soothingly, closing his eyes gently. This is what she had wanted from him, she wanted him back and an apology. She wanted to know about his mother and how he felt about the situation that he was presented with. And now, more than ever, she wanted him to tell her anything and everything, anything to keep her mind off last night and the fact that he was most likely going to get away with it. Jack was a good distraction from that, he knew just what to say to keep her mind from straying to those new found memories and the bruises on her body. He knew how to look at her and make her feel loved, adored. How to make her feel safe and protected from, anything it seemed. As long as he kept on talking to her, distracting her, she would forgive him for all his sins. She was long past being mad by his behavior and stupidity, she had a whole set of new problems to deal with at the present moment.

So they sat beside eachother, talking about Joyce and her reapparence, Tommi's stupidity, Vivianne's innocence, sports teams they had no intrest in, the school play, graduation, and when Jayne had came back with coffee she joined the conversation as well. They played card games and drew pictures, anything to keep the emotions and thoughts at bay.

* * *

Richard sat down at the station, a cup of coffee sitting on the desk in front of him, ice being applied gently to his knuckles. He sat with a growl on his face, harsh red marks on his face thatwould scar, and a black eye. Commissioner Thomas Adelson, a dear friend, sat before him, his arms crossed and shaking his head. The bleached blond that sat on her knees in front of him, gently dabbing the ice on his knuckles and face, grumbled at the thought of someone hurting her Pookie-bear.

"Are you sure you don't want me to make you feel better baby?" She looked over her shoulder at Commissioner Adelson and smiled wide, "Commissioner can play too if her wants."

"I said, not now Tina."

She sat back against the wall with a 'hmph' and a pout on her cherry red lips, pulling out a thing of nail polish from her purse, she began to do her nails while the men talked.

"This is bad Rich, really bad."

Richard rolled his eyes, moving the ice pack from his eye to the base of his neck, wincing slightly from the pain. "No its not Tom, they don't have anything on me. Claim it was self defense, you've seen the bruises, they were caused by a baseball bat." He motioned towards the base of his neck, "Couldn't do that one by myself now could I?"

Tom sighed, "That's not the point Rich, the girl was severely injured, your lucky you didn't kill her."

"Little bitch needed to be put in her place!"

"She's a seventeen year old girl for Christs sake!"

Richard's eyes narrowed, "Oh, don't pull that shit with me Tom. We've raped girls younger than that, most of them were younger than that." he leaned forward over his desk towards the Commissioner. "I've covered your ass many times Tom, remember Melinda Vesper? The fourteen year old virgin you raped so hard she lose consciousness twice throughout the night. The girl you killed because she refused to call you 'Daddy'? Remember how I covered that up from everyone else here and your wife? Well, now its time you return the favor."

Tom started him down before looking away and sighing heavily. Richard grinned evilly, he knew he had won. Tom would protect him from getting prosecuted, he would keep this from the media and find a way to keep Jayne silent. Now, all he had to do was think of a way to get that little bitch Alessa to keep her mouth closed. A thought came to him, it was perfect. He picked up his cellphone and stood from his seat.

"If you'll excuse me for a second, I have a call to make and a brat that needs taking care of."


	10. The Jesus Of Suburbia

**A/N:**I know you all want to kill me right now because its been like a reeeeally long time since I've updated. But, I'm back and so is this story. This is the end of part one, which was Jack's life before TDK, and from the next chapter on it will be the events a little bit before TDK, but in the same time and place. I hope you all are still with this story, if you are just drop me a review and let me know! I'd love to hear what everyone thinks about this chapter, this story. For some reason, I feel really proud of this chapter, maybe it's the epic ending? I don't know. Just let me know what you all thought, cause I would love to hear from each and every one of you!

* * *

Alessa was released from the hospital almost a week later, it had taken them that long to make sure she didn't have any internal injuries or lasting damage. They pronounced her fit to leave, but the amount of pills she was forced to take suggested otherwise. He was walking over to her house from the gas station as he thought about it, a cigarette hanging lazily out of his mouth, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. There was so much that had to be done, things that still needed to be figured out, so much to be said.

Something had to be done about Richard, he wasn't stupid and he certainly wasn't blind, he knew there was something corrupt going on with Gotham's 'finest', it was only a matter of time before everyone else did to. If only there was a way to expose them...to show everyone who there heroes actually were; scumbags and criminals. He didn't need to plot revenge on Richard Gallagher, no, he would get what was coming to him, but he did need to start thinking about how to make people see what the Political and Police of Gotham actually were.

He jumped the fence that lead to the Way's backyard, thankfully when the three of them had gotten back to the house from the hospital Richard was nowhere in sight, apparently he had knew it wouldn't have been a good situation if he came back. And not seeing the undercover cruiser told him that Gallagher had made the right decision in still not coming back from the city.

They didn't know where he was, Jack assumed he was staying at the police station, and he almost wished Richard had come back home. There was no telling what he was plotting over in the city, no telling what kind of lies he was spreading about what had happened that night, about how 'innocent' he was. The man was lucky, Jack hadn't been lying when he said he would kill him, because he would, it was only a matter of time.

He took a long drag from his cigarette before stubbing it out on the ground, flicking the bud out of his fingertips. He walked in through the kitchen door, but once he entered he could immediately feel it, he knew something was wrong, it was silent except for the running water of the sink and the muffled yells from up the stairs. He shut the door behind him quietly, turning off the tap, and made his way slowly into the living room and stood at the base of the stairs.

"You can't do this! It's irrational, and insane, and...illegal!"

He heard banging, like something heavy was thrown down against the ground, and what he was pretty sure was Alessa's soft crying. He resisted the urge to run up the stairs and instead walked up slowly, quietly, skipping the third step entirely so it didn't squeak. He kept his ears open, hoping to catch more of the conversation, to see who was in the room with them before busting in.

"I can do whatever I want, did you forget that Jaynie?"

He said her name mockingly, as if it would hurt her more in some way, Jack felt his breathing stop. Richard.

"Did you think I was going to let her get away with this? Did you?"

He heard a smack of flesh on flesh and a yelp of pain, he reached the top of the stairs and went quickly into the spare bathroom across the hall, waiting until Richard left to go in. He wouldn't be any use to them if he barged in there now, all fists and rage, attempting to fight the burly man and getting arrested for it.

"You have an hour to pack your things, I think I'm being generous enough to give you that much time. Daniels will be waiting to take you to the airport, I'll be waiting at the terminal. If you try and run, if you try and get out of this, I'll know. And trust me," He could hear Alessa's soft whimpers and knew Richard had grabbed her in some way. "you won't like what happens."

"Richard, Richard please!" Jayne was crying now, her voice no longer harsh, her tone no longer screeching, but instead almost gentle, pleading. "She's my daughter! How can you do this?"

Richard chuckled darkly, "Because I can." he threw open Alessa's door, turning back for a moment to grab Jayne by the hair. "Never forget that." He forcefully let her go, throwing her head away from him like she was diseased, before stalking out, stomping down the stairs and right out the front door. "Remember, one hour!"

Jack quickly strode into Alessa's room, it had taken all he had not to walk out from the bathroom and push the man down the stairs, or something to that effect. He found Jayne sitting on the floor, her head in her hands, crying deeply. Alessa sat on her bed, her wide eyes staring aimlessly out the window.

"What's going on?"

Jayne looked up, her skin around her eyes was puffy and brutally red, the hand print on her cheek already starting to bruise in a palate of indigo's, her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. She looked every bit of the shattered and broken woman _he_ had made her; abused, disheveled, desolate. It reminded him too much of his Mother, how she looked after _James_ had decided to play with her. She looked nothing like the strong, vivacious woman that she actually was. He didn't like it.

"Oh, Jack! R-Richard..."

Alessa didn't look away from the window when she answered, her Mother had become incapable of speech so she said it instead. Her long legs were dangling off the bed, her arms limp at her sides, she was unmoving, so still like a statue. Beautiful and made of stone.

"He's sending me away."

Her voice was strangely calm when she spoke, eerie almost. He wasn't sure why is irked him so to hear her like that.

"_What_."

She sighed, turning to look at him, "Just what I said, he's sending me away. Sending me to live with his sister so she can "keep and eye on me.", says its for my own good, it'll teach me to stop lying."

He clenched his fists, his jaw set. "I don't think so."

"Jack, it's not like I have a choice in the matter. He has an officer waiting to escort me to Gotham International in an hour. I'm going."

He couldn't understand how indifferent she was being, the shrug of her thin shoulders, the downcast of her eyes. It made him angry, how could she just give up like this, when all she needed to do was fight?

"Jayne!"

He turned back to her Mother, how could she let this happen? He knew she actually had no control over what Richard did or not, she never had, but he couldn't help the rage that was starting to consume him. He had a feeling that seeing as in the same position his own Mother once was in had something to do with it, wondering how she could just sit back and take the abuse, let that..._thing_ take away her daughter and not do a damn thing about it.

"Jack." He could hear it in her voice, the gentle warning tone that told him to shut up, he looked back to Alessa, "Why don't you help me start packing. Mom, could you get my suitcase from the attic for me please?"

He watched as Jayne slowly pulled herself up, as well as attempting to pull herself together for everyone's sake, she nodded toward Alessa before leaving the room, leaving them alone together. They stared at each other silently, they hadn't had a moment like this in almost a year, before they had started dating. The air in the room hung around them, it was heavy with disdain, thick with sadness, and neither was quite sure what to say or how to say it. He walked closer to where she stood in front of her bed, his strong jaw clenched, her wide eyes glazed over, he gently brought his hand up to softly stroke her face.

"This isn't fair."

He didn't care if he sounded like a child, he felt like a child at the moment. He wasn't sure how to feel, all the emotions running through him, blending together in a mesh of unidentified pain, the fact that Alessa was standing before him, all shockingly caviler didn't help either.

"I know." She shrugged one thin shoulder and dropped her gaze, "But there's nothing we can do."

He felt oddly empty inside, the emptiness wasn't a stranger to him, it came and went, but this was different. He felt a hollow in his chest, like something had scooped the insides right out of him and there was a gaping hole where his heart should be. He grabbed her face gently in his hands, his thumbs running softly over her cheekbones, her smaller hands had come up and grasped onto his forearms, seemingly to keep him in place.

He watched as the breath caught in her throat, how the gaze that was locked with his became teary, "I don't want to go."

"I know."

He caught the tears as they spilled slowly from her eyes, rubbing them away with the pads of his thumbs.

"What am I going to do without you?"

He lightly shrugged a broad shoulder, "I don't know." apparently now it was his turn to be the calm one, to tell her the horrid and undeniable truth. For some reason, it hurt a lot more this time than it ever had before.

Her grasp on his forearms tightened as she brought his body closer to hers, "I know that we're not together and that we still have so much shit to talk about, but Jack...I love you so much...I don't know...I don't know what I'm gonna do."

She was actually crying by then, a sad sobbing cry that made his insides break, he brought his lips to her forehead and held her against his chest, his hands still on her face, and her grip still tight around his arms. There was so much to be said, so much he was angry about, so much she should be upset about, so many comforting words and phrases he should murmur, but he didn't, he just kept her pressed against him and let her cry, letting himself cry.

After a while she leaned back from his chest and looked up at him, her pale eyes piercing his, her eyes, those eyes...they would haunt him until the end of his days. She leaned up and caught his lips with hers, it was slow and undeniably passionate, full of the love they shared for the other. Her hands left their grasp and travelled up over his muscles, brushing past his broad shoulders, and buried themselves into his golden curls. He kissed her deeper as he picked her up and placed her gently on the bed, he slowly covered her body with his larger one. He kissed her slowly still, and he could feel the wetness from her tears on his cheeks, or was that from his own sadness? He couldn't tell anymore.

She lifted her legs up and hooked them around his waist, he ran his hands down the side of her face, her neck, the side of her breast, the curve of her waist, stopping at her hips where he gently grabbed at. She kept her hands tangled in his curls, pulling and tugging her fingers through them, as though that would bring him closer to her. She knew it wouldn't.

This was it, their last hurrah so to speak. Nothing would be the same after this, they both knew it, they both felt it, and as much as they wanted to fight against it there was really nothing anyone could do. So they did the only thing they could do, cope; and love each other, desperately.

He slowly pushed her shirt up over her stomach, being mindful of the bandages keeping her ribs in place, over he breasts and off her body. He let out the small groan he always did at the sight of her bare breasts, all full and perky, the twin peaks pebbled and ready. He kissed down her neck slowly, nipping at her collarbone, he heard the slight sighs and quiet moans she was making.

He kissed down the valley between her breasts, stopping to give light kisses on each before continuing down, he let his lips linger on the bandages, on the bruises and breaks that man left on her. He let his lips lightly move over her stomach, stopping at the waistband of her old, faded jeans. He stopped, resting his head on her, looking up at her from where he lay, tears once again gathering in his uncommonly blue eyes.

She smiled gently down at him, running her fingers gently through his curling locks, nodding her head, the tears forming in hers as well. He sat up just a bit, removing the t-shirt from his own body before slipping the pants from her form, leaving feather light kisses on her thighs, then removed his own. He crawled up her, burrying his face in her neck, she felt the wetness start to sting her skin. She lifted her hips, wrapping her legs around his waist, loosely. He put his weight on his arms, so he wouldn't hurt her ribs, and slowly slid into her.

She gasped at the feeling, how he filled and stretched her so, but moved so, so gently. It caused a swell in her broken heart. She wrapped her arms around his back, bringing him closer, not caring about the stinging in her side. She wanted him this way, in this exact spot, forever.

He shifted his hips, hearing the hitch in her breathing, he did it again. He increased his speed just slightly, still gently penetrating, his jaw clenched, his face still burried in the junction of her shoulder and neck. He could feel her breathing become more laboured than it already was, he knew she was close, he lifted his head to look at her. Her eyes were wide with tears, glazed over with emotion, she was biting her lip as she gazed back at him. He knew his eyes were equally distraught, no words needed to be exchanged, they both knew.

She threw her head back, her eyes gently closed, he clenched his jaw as hard as he was capable, his own eyes slipping closed as they both came, together, one last time.

He leaned down and kissed her, so softly. She opened her eyes and sat up with him, leaning against his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her, rubbing circles on her skin with his calloused fingers. He couldn't help but run his fingers over the scar on her left shoulder, the one from a knife, the one that his Father had given her once upon a time; he tended to forget that he wasn't the only one who came out of it with a scar...

It was silent, peacefully quiet between them. The air no longer crackled with disdain, or anger. It was perfect.

Alessa moved her head from his shoulder to look at him, his eyes tired and heavy with sorrow. She leaned over and kissed him gently, lingering on his lips, before getting up to get dressed. He stood as well, pulling on his pants before turning to help her step into her own clothing. He smoothed her hair down over her shoulders and down her back, she gave him a small, tight lipped smile.

When they heard the slam of a door and the panicked voice of Jayne, he knew their time together was over. She walked over to the hallway and grabbed the suitcase out of the hall closet, Jayne knew where it was but apparently she had also knew that leaving Jack and her alone for a few minutes was a good idea. She brought it back into her room and began to put everything she owned into the bag, and whatever didn't fit into a duffel bag that she pulled from under her bed.

Jack watched for a moment before going to help her, he watched as she attempted to pack her whole life into two bags. What distressed him the most was that she was able to. He started to help her, folding clothes, grabbing trinkets off shelves, stacking books. He hadn't noticed when Jayne had showed up, he wasn't even exactly sure what time it was. He felt...numb. Empty and numb. He could only imagine how Alessa was feeling, but she gave no clue to him on that particular subject, she wasn't even crying anymore. He didn't take that as a good sign.

Just as he finished packing the last of her picture frames and zippered up the dufflebag, when the officer was at the doorway to her bedroom and pointed to his watch, "Alright, your hour is up, I gotta get you to the airport, so come on, let's go."

The officer named Daniels came into the room from the hallway and grabbed the bags from her bed, he wasn't sure when the cop had decided to join the party, or when he had even come inside for that matter. It startled him that he was so focused on such a mundane thing as packing that he hadn't even noticed the police officer's presence.

Alessa grabbed his hand tightly as they made it out of her room and down the stairs, he grabbed her cardigan from the couch and handed it to her. Jayne returned from the kitchen, Alessa's medication in a bag, her eyes starting to water yet again. He couldn't even fathom Jayne's internal struggle, a part of him still not as sympathetic as he wanted to be with her because the situation reminded him of a warped, distorted version of his own once upon a time ago.

He watched as Jayne grabbed Alessa's shoulders, wrapping her arms around her daughter's from as they walked to the car. They all sat in the back of the cruiser, Alessa squished between them. It was silent except for the music playing lowly in the front of the cab, Daniels' fingers drumming to the beat lightly on the steering wheel. He once looked in the rear view mirror to find Jack's intense eyes narrowed and full of dangerous emotions and ever darker intent, the officer had quickly looked away and had yet to look back since.

The ride to Gotham International was faster than he remembered it, but still long nonetheless, it was filled with thick tension, and the air in the car was heavy with despair. Daniels had pulled right up to the doors, flashing his lights and keeping them on, he jumped out of the car and opened the door for them to pile out. Jayne exited first, letting Alessa all but crawl out, before smashing her to her form and keeping her there, he hopped out last, watching as Daniels slam the door behind him. He grabbed Alessa's things out of the trunk, handing one of the bags to him, not once looking him in the eyes, then grabbed Alessa by the arms and led them into the airport.

They bypassed security, which he wasn't even aware someone was allowed to do, ever, and straight to where Richard was standing next to the terminal. His arms were crossed over his chest, his foot tapping, a crooked grin on his oily face. Jack had never been more ready to kill someone than he was in that moment, he wanted to wipe that smug smile from his mouth.

"Ready girlie?"

Alessa turned in her Mother's arms, wrapping herself tightly in Jayne's embrace, they were both crying heavily. Jack watched patiently, he knew Alessa would come to him before Richard made her get on the plane. He watched as the asshole had the audicy to check his watched and roll his eyes at their display.

Alessa moved from her Mother's arms to his, she jumped into him, squishing her body against his, molding herself to him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her form, pulling her even closer to him than he thought possible. He could feel her tears wetting his shirt, feel the hard sobbing in her body. He did his best not to cry, he wouldn't give that bastard the satisfaction.

Alessa leaned up and kissed him gently on the mouth, they could hear Richard's grunts of anger at the display but they paid him no mind. She pulled back and dug something out of her pocket, handing it to him.

"This was your birthday present, I - I...after the fight I was going to wait until graduation to give it to you, but now..."

She started sobbing again, her beautiful face scrunched up in pain, fat teas leaking from her wide eyes. He took the small box from her and held it in his hand, he wouldn't open it now, he couldn't.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. You've had your goodbyes, now its time for you to go."

They could hear the call of her flight number over the intercom, it was real, this was all really happening. Richard came and grabbed her arm, dragging her towards the terminal. She lifted the sleek sliver chain from within her shirt, "I have the matching one."

He nodded at her, watched as the tears that never subsided came down harder, Jayne grabbed onto him.

"I love you Jack, I love you Mom!"

"I love you baby! Pleas don't ever forget that! I'm sorry, so sorry!"

He thickly swallowed, "I love you Alessa. I do."

She furiously nodded her head at his admission, she knew how much it meant, and he knew how much it meant to her. He stood with Jayne watching Alessa being dragged though the door and to the plane, they waited there until Richard came back from the terminal alone. When he walked back over to where they stood, he grabbed Jayne's huddling form from Jack and started to pull her away.

"Wait, wait, Richard where are you taking me?"

Jayne's frantic tone was putting him more on edge than he already was, the fact that they were in a public place didn't escape Richard though. He just squeezed Jayne's arm tighter and started speaking through a tight, forced smile.

"I'm taking you home _darling_." The word was uttered harshly as to shut her up, but pleasant enough that people who were walking by wouldn't notice. Richard looked him over, he laughed at the glaze in his aqua eyes, the dried tear marks from where he had cried, the look in Richard's brown eyes was an easy one to read: Pathetic. Richard thought that he was pathetic, because he had cried at having the only constant thing in his whole life ripped away from him. "Daniels, take him into custody."

Jack's eyes narrowed at the older man, he looked over at officer Daniels, who in all honesty, looked rather scared at the thought of being alone in a squad car with him. Just as he should be.

"What! Why? He hasn't done anything!"

He gripped Jayne's arm tighter, hushing her, he didn't need the extra attention. He started to pull them out of the airport, back out through security, and down through the lobby. Once they were outside and near the parked squad car, did he answer Jayne's question.

"_He_ has done everything, he has ruined this family, he has you wrapped around his finger all the while he was corrupting _my _Alessa, under _my_ roof!"

Although it was whispered angrily to Jayne, Jack still heard every word of it, mainly because Richard wanted him too.

"The last time I checked, Alessa isn't yours, she never will be. And _Jayne's_ house, was there before you, and it'll be there after."

He narrowed his eyes at Jack's statuesque form, he didn't care anymore, not about anything. Alessa was his rock to reality, she kept him grounded, kept him from falling into the dark place inside of him that he had started to drift into. Without her here, without her with him, he had nothing left for this reality, it didn't want him and he didn't want it. So, it was time he let the dead bury the dead, and moved on into his new, bright reality. And he had a plan, oh did he have a plan.

He smirked as Richard stared him down, as he pushed Jayne into his car, and as he ordered Daniels to take Jack in. "For what sir?"

Richard smirked right back, "For assaulting an officer."

But Jack couldn't even be bothered to care, not as Daniels placed cuff on him, or as he pushed him down into the police car. All he did was stare at Daniels through the rear view mirror, the whole way from the airport to the police station, the smirk still in place, he knew it looked insane with his scars, it just added to the appeal of doing it.

Daniels let him out of the squad car when they arrived at the station, apologising as he led Jack into the station. The poor man thought he stood a chance, too bad none of them did, and he was so excited to show them.

Daniels un-cuffed him and processed him, he didn't take Jack's mugshots, nor did he get any information out of Jack whatsoever, other than what Daniels had already known about him. When he lead Jack into the cage in the middle of the precinct he handed him the small box that Alessa had given him at the airport, they had taken it out of his pocket when they patted him down for any weapons, he was slightly grateful that this officer now felt guilty, remorseful, for doing Richard Gallagher's bidding.

He sat down on one of the benches in the cell, it wasn't exactly filled but there were more people around him than he was used to. They were all much older, larger, meaner than he was, but none of them came near him, whether it was the scars, or the silent rage coming off him in waves, they new to back off.

He looked down at the box in his hands, the box that Alessa had given him, he let his fingers brush over the soft, velvet texture of it as he thought of her. He popped open the top, actually looking at what was inside.

A ring, a sleek, silver ring, sitting on an expensive metal chain.

He picked it up out of the box, examining it, it seemed to be all silver except for the small raised piece that was in the shape of a triangle. He smirked, why a triangle he wondered. But, then it dawned on him, making his face fall and his chest feel heavy, he couldn't ask her why, and he supposed he'd never know.

* * *

He had spent the past four days in the police station, all because of his fake assulting an officer charge, Richard eventually dropped it, playing the nice victim yet again. He was now on the train home from the city, at four in the morning, sporting a black eye and a few cuts.

The good luck he had on that first night had run out, and the next morning there were more guys in the cage, more brawlic, angry thugs. They of course looked much worse than he did after the fight, he wasn't someone to be messed with, and every single person was slowly finding out that little detail.

He sighed as the train came to a hault at his stop, he got off and started the trek back to his neighborhood, it wasn't that far, but he was exhausted, emotionally and mentally drained. The walk from the train station to his house had taken a lot longer than he thought it would, so when he actually go into his neighborhood it was bright, early morning, with people driving to work and kids getting on the school bus. He walked past the Way household on his way to his, it was dark and didn't look like anyone but Jayne was home, he knew better than to go to her thought, and just the sight of the house made his chest ache, so he kept on walking.

It had been about two weeks since he had been at his own house, when Alessa had been released from the hospital he had just stayed at her home with her, then he went with her to the airport, and spent four days in jail after that. He wondered what his Mother was doing right now, if she was worried about him, if she wondered where he was and why he hadn't called.

He was about to find out, he was walking up the sidewalk, his house right up the road, but he stopped in his tracks before he could reach it. There it was sitting boldly on his front lawn, mocking him. He ran up to it, touching it to see if it was real, it couldn't be real...

He heard a car pull up behind him, but he payed it no mind, he was still stuck on what this was doing in his front yard, and what it actually meant. The sound of high heels on pavement is what made him turn around, his Mother didn't wear high heels. It was a ginger haired woman, she was dressed in a blazer and a pencil skirt, she looked official, she also looked surprised.

"Oh, uh, hello there."

He just stared at her, then back at the sign, before he turned back to her. "Who are you." He kept his ground, standing before her, next to the sign, waiting for his answer.

"I'm, uh, Carrie-Lynn Gilsig. I'm the real-estate agent from Point Meadows in Gotham." She put down the box in her hands and pushed the sunglasses off of her face so that she could look at him properly, "Um, who are you? Is there something I can help you with."

Real-estate.

He looked down, shaking his head, his eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched. _That bitch._ How could she have done this to him?

"This is my house."

Carrie-Lynn, the real-estate agent looked surprised, then of course confused. "Oh, my...Mrs. Napier didn't tell me she had a son, or to expect you to come home. Can I see your i.d.?"

He fished his wallet out of his back pocket, handing it to her, she looked at his driver's licence. There it was, written in bold, black letters: Jack Andrew Napier. She handed the wallet back to him, looking at the boy, he looked so lost, so angry.

"Look, I don't know whats going on, but your Mother already sold us the house, we already paid her for it. Whether most people know it or not, this is prime real-estate for people coming up from the city. It might be low-income housing, but the school district is great, the center of town isn't too far away - "

He cut her off, she was rambling, talking to him like he was interested in buying the house, _his_ house. "Can I just get my things."

She nodded her head, "I was just about to go in and clean up for the open house, but please, you first."

He sharply nodded his head at her, whispering a thank you in her direction. He walked in the house and went down into his bedroom, everything was just how he left it. He sighed and started to pack up his belongings, he took all the money he had saved over time and packed up whatever was absolutely necessary.

He gave the room one last look before bounding back up the stairs and into the kitchen. He looked at the family portrait one the wall above the table, he picked it up and stared at it for a moment. It was late August when they moved into the shabby house down the road from Michael, Jayne, and Alessa. His Mother was a shy, quiet women with downcast eyes and a non-existent smile, his Father was a tall, well built man, with an angry disposition and a sneer on his once handsome face. Together they were James and Joyce Napier, and they had a little son named Jack.

He smashed the picture on the ground, watching as the glass shattered and the frame broke. He picked up the picture that was inside of the frame, and ripped it into tiny little pieces of nothing. They were no longer the Napier's, they were no longer a family, because there were no more members of it.

James Napier : Deceased.

Joyce Napier : Pitiful Runaway.

And Jack Napier?

He stared at the shredded pieces of picture one last time before turning on his heal and walking out the front door. He left it open, not bothering, he didn't acknowledge Ms. Carrie-Lynn Gilsig of Point Meadows real-estate. He just kept walking, he didn't know where he was going exactly, because he knew no one, everyone he knew or loved was gone, all he did know was that when he came back there was going to be some serious hell to pay.

And if s_he _ever came back, well, she wouldn't be able to recognize this city at all.

Jack Napier : Deceased, and always forgotten.


End file.
